The Forest's Inhabitants
by Delitelia
Summary: Raven began to have a bad feeling about a forest in the outskirts of the City and now she has to deal with her friends, her exboyfriend, an old friend with troubles, a new feeling and stranges happenings -Chapter 23 up-
1. Prologue

**Summary: **The forest at the outskirts of Jump City is intriguing Raven and she don't knows why, after see a puppet hanging from a tree she gets the feeling that something bad is going to happen but she doesn't know what.

Now she has to deal with mysterious happenings around herself with the help from her friends and her ex-boyfriend besides a new feeling towards an old friend that is living in the strange forest.

**A/N: **Well, I know I'm writing one story and recently I deleted one that was already started but somehow I didn't feel very well with that last one so I'll try a new one later, for now I just got the feeling of write a new Fan fiction and as strange as it can sound this one is a Rob/Rae/Speedy triangle because I needed characters and found out that it could be good in this way.

The story is based in a book written by Jenny Jones, I don't know the name of the book in English so I just translated the title form Spanish, the story is pretty much the same with the exception that the Titans are the ones participating here. If anyone has read the book I would appreciate if you tell me how to improve the story with some details of the original book. Thanx.

**Disclaimer: **I own neither the Teen Titans nor the book written by Jenny Jones

**_Il vostro incubo più difettoso ha allineare venuto/ Il vostro incubo più difettoso ha allineare venuto_**

_**THE FOREST'S INHABITANTS**_

**PROLOGUE**

The Titans Tower in Jump City, home of five heroes, was once a peaceful place as well as the city itself when there was no trouble with any villain. There weren't any major troubles and the friends used to be very happy and close to each other, but now the tension could be felt in the 'T' shaped building because of something that happen six moths ago between two of the heroes.

One of the most affected, maybe the most one for some of her friends, was on the roof trying to meditate as she always did.

Her short violet hair could be seen because she had put her hood down letting it had over her shoulders, the light air played with her locks, the sunshine reflected its light over her pale skin and was making her red gem on her forehead shine a bit. Her amethyst orbs were hidden under her closed eyelids, closing her eyes always helped her to concentrate better while she floated in the air in a lotus position as her thin lips chanted her mantra.

However, her concentration hasn't been as it used to be, some weeks ago she began to forget her trouble and curiosity occupied its place. She didn't know why, but she started to note more the forest located far away in the outskirts of the city, something about that place intrigued and scared her at the same time, and that was something difficult to do.

This strange feeling that she had about that place began with a battle with Dr. Light, the Titans chased him till the outskirts of the city and just before the forest. At the time the team was more interested interrogating the skinny and dumb villain than in the creepy forest; but she _did_ note it. She saw the forest and something made her look at it with undescriptible interest, without move of her spot her gaze began to travel from the nearest trunks to deeper in the forest, each and every one of the braches, her gaze continued to travel till it caught something, something that wasn't the most usual thing to see in a place like that.

A puppet

A puppet of the size of a four years old child was hanging from a tree looking at her with an empty expression, not like the one that she always wore but a horrible one; the wood looked gross and rough, and the place where the eyes were supposed to be was occupied by two empty holes but its face was directed right to her as a thin line marked the mouth, and even when the expression was something impossible to define it just made the puppet look creepier.

She found that it was the most horrible thing that she had ever seen since the last time she saw her father, but she found herself asking some questions while continue watching the doll What's that thing doing there? Who made it? Why couldn't she stop looking at it even when the puppet was so ugly? So horrible? So creepy?

If her friend's voices hadn't called her at that moment maybe she had stayed looking at the puppet forever or even go into the dark forest, the simple thought of it made her shudder but it was like the doll was hypnotizing her to go near, like whispering her to go there.

After that day she began to fill her mind with thoughts of the forest, or maybe _the forest_ was just trying to stay in her mind; she didn't know what thought was scarier, but she decided that she would never go back there as long as it wasn't _completely_ necessary. And she was praying to every god in all the heavens to keep her and the team as far of the forest as possible.

At that moment she decided that she couldn't meditate with all those thoughts in her head so she opened her eyes and took one glance at the forest from her spot in the roof. With so much light it seemed beautiful; even when the trees were almost naked with the winters arrive in one month, the few leaves that the trees had seeming like shinning with the natural light almost like a picture painted by the best artist in the world showing to the others his fantasies universe.

But something inside her was telling her that something was happening in there, but a stronger feeling told her that something even bigger was going to happen, and that feeling was the thing that scared her the most because her persuasion was correct almost all the times.

With a shudder she headed back inside the tower for a cup of tea, she had some other troubles in her life and this day was just starting.

**_Il vostro incubo più difettoso ha allineare venuto/ Il vostro incubo più difettoso ha allineare venuto_**

**Well, this is the Prologue, is short but it's just the introduction to the story.**

**Hope it captured your attention, I will accept all the suggestions that you give me, if you also give me some special ideas to help this story to get better I'll appreciate them immensely.**

**Now, DO NOT flame me for the pairings, if you don't like principal pairing then don't continue reading; that will save you from read something that you don't like and me to get flames about something that I asked not to have.**

**Please review and tell me your thoughts about this new story:3 **


	2. Capitolo uno

**Hi, I'm back:3**

**CrazyInsomaniac: **My first review, nope the Puppet King won't be in this in any way other than the puppet have a lot to do with the story, and for the villains, don't worry. ;P

**Kyra (anon): **Thanx, they mean 'Your worst nightmare has became true' If I can remember well

**Serasvictoria666: **Don't worry about it, I'll write it the best I can and hope you like story and thanks for the review

**La creatura della notte, la fonte de vostri incubi, l'angelo scuro/La creatura della notte, la fonte de vostri incubi, l'angelo scuro**

**Disclaimer: **I own neither TT nor 'The Forest's Inhabitants'

**Where we left:** With a shudder she headed back inside the tower for a cup of tea, she had some other troubles in her life and this day was just starting.

**Now with the story…**

**La creatura della notte, la fonte de vostri incubi, l'angelo scuro/La creatura della notte, la fonte de vostri incubi, l'angelo scuro**

**CHAPTER 1**

Raven walked inside the Tower and into the kitchen to prepare her tea, it was still early and the Titans had a battle with Mumbo yesterday, or rather like that same day around two in the morning and they fought about an hour. Not even the Titans leader had awoken yet, something good because he was that had been breaking her concentration before the forest appearance; he interrupted it not physically but mentally.

Raven and Robin were a couple for some months and at the beginning they seemed very happy together, until Robin began to act like a total jerk. He began to act possessive and jealous over her when she talked to any boy; friends, villains and officers were in the list no matter if they were younger or a lot older than Raven. She supposed that it was going to pass soon but it only got worse to the point that he got jealous of Starfire.

Finally one day she broke up with him, she called him 'insane', 'jerk', 'dumbass' and some other things and he answered the same way; Raven decided that a relation based in just the professional matter, not a couple, not friends, just leader and teammate; that way their personal troubles would be in the past, or so she tried to do it.

After that they avoided each other as much as they could, while Robin stayed in the evidence room, the training room or his room, he also tried not to go to the roof; Raven stayed in her room or the living room reading or watching Cyborg and Beast Boy play videogames, and she so tried not to go to the roof very often saving for _really_ early in the morning, late in the night or when the rest of the team went out.

After finishing her tea and put her cup in the sink she made her way to her room. In the way there she found the one person she didn't want to see, Robin.

Robin and Raven stopped for a moment looking into each other eyes. Maybe Robin was trying to avoid Raven, but it was just to respect her space; what he really wanted was to talk and recover something of their past relationship, even a simple friendship would be great for him. He still liked Raven, and Robin couldn't help it, now he just wanted to tell her the real reason of why he acted the way he did.

When they broke up he just yelled at her incoherent things and never tried to explain himself at all; and if he was going to tell Raven what happened to him he needed to do it now.,

"Raven" His voice was quiet and calm

"Robin" She nodded greeting her leader and trying to walk away, only to find Robin on her path "Raven, we heed to talk"

"I don't have anything to tell, and neither do you" Her glare was hard, but seemed to have not effect on him

"Yes, I do" Robin replied "I want to explain myself to you"

"Robin, there have been six months since we decided to end and things have been pretty well since then" Her voice was monotone as usual hiding any kind of emotion

"No, we haven't been ok. Look, why can't we at least be friends again?" Raven could tell he was honest and, besides, he had been her best friend since they met, he gave everything; there was no way that the friendship that they had once would be the same, but maybe there could be a chance of something good

"Maybe" She answered continuing her way to her room

Robin let her go, a 'Maybe' was way better than nothing. How difficult could be have Raven back?... Very hard, but he still loved her and wouldn't give up that easy

**La creatura della notte, la fonte de vostri incubi, l'angelo scuro/La creatura della notte, la fonte de vostri incubi, l'angelo scuro**

**: Later that day in the Tower:**

The five Titans were enjoying a peaceful afternoon in the main room.

Robin and Starfire were at the table, she was trying to have a conversation with Robin but he was listening just the half of it because his gaze drifted all the time to the other three members of the team localized at the couch. Starfire couldn't see that because of the mask, but she knew he wasn't listening because his replies were short and his voice was distant.

Now she wasn't as happy as she was when Robin and Raven broke up, even when she knew that she shouldn't feel that way she did. Everybody knew Starfire had a huge crush on Robin and now that he was free she could have a shot with him, unfortunately the Boy Wonder seemed to have lost that type of interest over the Tamaranian.

"… And then I was surrounded by a group of about twenty wolves" Beast Boy told Raven

Since she broke up with Robin she and the changeling have been closer to each other, Raven allowed herself a smile at him sometimes because that she found out that Beast Boy was funnier than she have thought, or noted, but she would never say it out loud.

"Really?" Asked Raven raising an eyebrow, BB nodded

"Yep"

Beast Boy was happy because he got to know Raven a little more, but at the same time he felt weird and somehow sad; it took Raven end with hers and Robin's relationship for actually be able to be _real_ friends with him and also he knew that at some point she was using him to forget Robin. But a relationship beyond friendship wouldn't work, he liked Raven but not enough to stand her on a girlfriend way; and Raven felt the same way

"And then all of them jumped on me, I was preparing myself for the impact. One of them jumped at my throat, he opened its jaw, leaned to me and… I woke up" He finished sheepishly

"Just at the best moment" Cyborg commented still playing his videogame

Cyborg was the one that felt the tension in the Tower the most because of his brotherly nature and because each one of the other four Titans have talked to him about how they felt with everything that was happening since Raven's and Robin's separation, and he could do nothing but hear and maybe give some suggestions. The easiest one was Beast Boy, Cy just had told him to understand that Raven needed some things to distract her mind but that nothing else would happen; Beast Boy did as he was told and Raven and the green boy were recovering the time that they hadn't spent together since the team started

"How's that the best moment?" Asked Beast Boy

"Just imagine how wonderful the life would be without you" Replied the robot

"Dude! That's so no cool!" Exclaimed the changeling

"I was just saying what I think" Cyborg shrugged

"You have to admit that the life would be very boring without me" BB said

"Yeah, maybe 'cause I wouldn't have someone to beat at videogames besides Robin and that would be awful" Cyborg replied faking distress

"Oh yeah sure, it would disastrous" Beast Boy folded his arms and rolled his eyes

Raven smiled a little, some of the arguments that those two have so very often were kind of amusing, definitely the romance that she had with the masked boy helped her to express more her emotions now that her father was under her control

At the table Starfire was tired of trying to talk to Robin, if Raven was near there wouldn't be any chance to have a decent conversation with him. She got an idea

"Robin, why do not we go out?"

"Yeah, that's a good idea" He answered, Star's face lit up as Robin got up of the chair he was sitting on, she got up as well

"How glorious!" She exclaimed with a wide smile

"Team, let's go out for pizza" The leader called at his team as he stood behind the couch, Star's smile became a light frown. The plan was that she and Robin would go alone but instead he understood that she meant take the whole team out

"Yeah, sure!" Cyborg exclaimed leaving his game

"I'm in!" Followed Beast Boy "You comin' Rae?" Raven looked up, by now she was used to be called Rae by her teammates and now she didn't mind

"I don't know" She replied

"Aw, c'mon Raven you hafta come with us" Pleaded the short boy

"Maybe it would be better if I stay here" Raven said

"Oh, please!" At this point Beast Boy became a little puppy and sat on her lap with wide sad-puppy-eyes,

"Ok" Raven said with a sigh "I'll go"

"Yay!" BB yelled resuming in his human form again "I knew that it wouldn't fail"

"I hate you, did you know that?" Raven said with a glare as she walked towards the rest of the team, Beast Boy just grinned

"But still you can't help but love me that the lil' bro you never had"

"Yeah, the _annoying_ little brother I never had" She hissed, of course both of them were just joking the cruel sarcastic remarks that Raven used to give before were disappearing

"Ok, let's go y'all. I'm hungry" Cyborg yelled

Raven and Beast Boy walked side by side and some of the jealously that Robin had some time ago returned for a moment, but he knew that if he wanted Raven back he would have to control his emotions like she does. Maybe if his emotions were free wouldn't be the end of the world –literally- but he surely would loose all the chances that he could have with the dark girl

**La creatura della notte, la fonte de vostri incubi, l'angelo scuro/La creatura della notte, la fonte de vostri incubi, l'angelo scuro**

When they reached to the garage all of them got into the T-car, Robin and Cyborg in the front with Cyborg driving and the rest got in the back, Starfire behind Cyborg, at her right BB and at his right Raven who just stayed watching out the window while Cyborg, Star and BB talked about random subjects.

The forest came back to her mind, as much as she wanted to erase it from her mind she just couldn't, her strange feeling going back to her telling her to be on alert, and still she didn't know why. She sighed and closed her eyes thinking in any other thing than the forest, and even more important, the horrible puppet.

Robin stayed in his own thoughts as well, but instead of a forest and a puppet he was thinking about how to wins Raven's heart again. He participated in the conversation sometimes but not very often. He needed a rest, he was starting to get obsessive on Raven and an obsession wasn't something good in any way, he still remembered what had happened the last time he got an obsession with something, or rather, _someone_.

**La creatura della notte, la fonte de vostri incubi, l'angelo scuro/La creatura della notte, la fonte de vostri incubi, l'angelo scuro**

When they arrived to Pizza place and sat at a table, happened the same thing that always happens there…

"A veggie pizza!" BB yelled

"A meat-lovers all the way!" Cy replied

"Dude, I will NOT eat meat Cyborg!" The fight started, like always

"Then you won't eat at all" Cyborg shrugged

"Why don't we order a veggie and in that way you will be the one starved" The changeling suggested

"Please friends, we must not argue like this. I suggest we get fresh mints pizza for al of us!" Starfire interfered making all of her friends stare and her and sweat-drop

"I say that we just order a veggie and a meat-lovers and end with this" Raven said

"Yeah, we always do that, I don't see why we have to go through this every time we come" Robin agreed

"'Cause where would be the fun in just agreed as soon as we arrive?" Asked Cyborg to the leader who rolled his eyes under his mask

After order the team sat 'listening' Cyborg and Beast Boy talk about videogames, in fact Robin had Raven in his mind, Raven had the forest and the doll and Starfire was disappointed because she wanted to go out _alone_ with Robin, but obviously he had lost any kind of interest on her like the one he once had for her

The pizza soon arrived and when they were about to eat their communicators sounded and the localizer of each one of them began to blink in red. Robin was about to take his communicator a big explosion sounded from the end of the street, and from there Mumbo appeared with laughing with to sacks full of something that, being the Jewelry from where he got out, were most likely jewels.

"Mumbo Jumbo?" Said Starfire

"Didn't we trap him yesterday?" Asked Beast Boy

"He managed to escape somehow" Cyborg said

"This time he won't have a chance, Titans Go!" Robin yelled and they raced towards the villain

**La creatura della notte, la fonte de vostri incubi, l'angelo scuro/La creatura della notte, la fonte de vostri incubi, l'angelo scuro**

**Ok, just to put it clear there WON'T be ANY kind of romance between Raven and BB, there will be moments but the story is Rob/Rae/Spe and maybe some Star/Rae/Rob but I suggest to the ones that still wish to see much BB/Rae or Star/Rob not to read this anymore**

**Now, the characters are some OC but I need to do it if I want to get them to act like in the book, this episode didn't have a lot of horror but I need to explain the situation before go on with the fic but I promise I'll try to add more action, adventure and horror in the next chapters ok?**

**The lines in Italian say: 'The creature of the night, the source of your nightmares, the dark angel'**

**Please review and see you soon! ;3 **


	3. Captolo due

**Hello there! Thanx for the reviews!**

**Woah (anon): **Um, thanx

**Dark-raven343gs: **You'll know why BB is the character he is, maybe after I finish one of my stories I can do a bb/rae/rob if I come with a good idea

**LoveThemAll: **Ok, I'm here I'm here I'm here

**Serasvictoria666: **I promise that the relationship between BB and Rae will be just friendship even when Robin would think that is happening something else

**CrazyInsomaniac: **1)Thanx 2)A 'maybe' is the only answer I can give you 3)Again a maybe will be the answer but I wouldn't be so sure about a fight between the two girls

**Zarola: **Don'tworry, I'll try to make this story as good as the book for you maybe can have the idea

**Sia impaurito di coloro che non è vivo ma sia ancora qui/ Sia impaurito di coloro che non è vivo ma sia ancora qui**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the Teen Titans or the book written by Jenny Jones

**Where we left: **"Mumbo Jumbo?" Said Starfire

"Didn't we trap him yesterday?" Asked Beast Boy

"He managed to escape somehow" Cyborg said

"This time he won't have a chance, Titans Go!" Robin yelled and they raced towards the villain

**Now with the Chapter…**

**Sia impaurito di coloro che non è vivo ma sia ancora qui/ Sia impaurito di coloro che non è vivo ma sia ancora qui**

**CHAPTER 2**

"Mumbo Jumbo!" The villain yelled waving his wand around and making inanimate object move here and there, with his other hand he was holding the two bags full of jewels, laughing hysterically he began to run further downtown

"Stop right there Mumbo, show's over!" Mumbo heard from above him, a second later he saw the Teen Titans themselves in front him ready to fight

"Oh, the Teen Titans. How nice, are you trying to capture me again?" Mumbo said

"How did you escape?" Asked Cyborg preparing his sonic cannon

"Mmhhh…" Mumbo put his hand on his chin like thinking "I just remember that the officers screamed and then the car stopped and the door opened itself. There on the pavement was my wand that you very polite gave to them when you captured me"

"I told you it was better to break that thing" Cyborg said to Robin

"Nice story Mumbo but this time you'll stay locked in jail, Titans Go!" Robin ordered to the team and all of them rushed towards the blue man

Cyborg shot his sonic cannon but with a wave of his wrist a large rope was shot from his wand and to Cyborg's feet making him fall backwards. The shot of his cannon went to the sky almost knocking Starfire and Raven as they flew towards Mumbo.

The maniac villain laughed at the sight just before hear a loud roar from behind, he turned around and saw a green lion running ready to tackle him, just in time at the purer Matrix style he leaned backwards so the animal just jumped above him landing behind Mumbo who quickly turned and morphed the impressive lion in a little green kitty at the same time a chain tied around its neck and to a fire hydrant. Beast Boy morphed into a gorilla and pulled the rope but neither the chain nor the fire hydrant gave in.

Meanwhile Starfire took her chance to attack Mumbo with a starbolts rain

"Mumbo Jumbo!" The villain said and from her sleeves poker cards appeared and flew towards Starfire and wrapping themselves around her whole body just letting free her nose, the alien began to fall but was saved just in time by Robin

Cyborg appeared again ready to punch the wizard on the head but Mumbo waved his wand and four chains appeared from behind the Titan pulling him backwards. Cyborg hit something hard with his back but he wasn't sure what until he saw Mumbo holding five daggers in each hand

"Now, for my next act let's see if this Titans survives to the ten daggers I'm about to launch" The villain said looking around like if he was in a theatre before looking back at Cyborg "But I have to tell you that I have never done this before"

Mumbo was preparing to launch when a bird-a-rang hit his hands making him drop the draggers, the blue man turned just in time to see a foot on his face. Mumbo gave some steps backwards and shook his head to focus his vision, Robin was launching at him with bostaff in hand. Thinking quick Mumbo waved his wand and Robin's bostaff became a big stick of pink bubblegum that didn't have any effect over him. Robin landed on his feet at the same time his rival got on his. Without another minute Robin threw more bird-a-rangs at the villain which were morphed into doves flying high in the air

"Alakazam!" Mumbo shouted and before Robin knew what was going on he was upside down with his feet tied by a chain, his body captured in a strait jacket and inside a big water container from head to ankles "Let's see if you can do what Harry Houdini couldn't"

The villain didn't have time to celebrate because he was hit by a light post and sent a few yards away landing face first on the ground

"Let's see if you can do what you haven't done yet" Raven said levitating some feet in the air "Win a battle against us"

"I wonder if you will be as talkative as now when I make you a little bunny again" Teased Mumbo holding his wand high in the air, but before either of the could attack a letter box came flying to the villain making him fall with the mail box over him. Raven turned knowing who was the only one capable to do it, because he was the only one with his hands free; she gave BB a little smile that he returned still in gorilla form. Raven turned to the villain again just in time to see him pointing his wand towards him and said his spell

"Mumbo Jumbo!" Mumbo was surrounded by an aqua smoke; at this all the other Titans were free from their spells

The cards that were holding Starfire became simple cards, most of them went to the ground but some of them stayed over her body. The chain that was attaching Beast Boy to the fire hydrant disappeared just like the bonds that had Cyborg tied against a wheel on a wall disappeared and he landed safely on his feet, something that you couldn't say about Robin because the spell disappeared so fast that the only thing he could do was move his head up falling plainly on his upper back barely saving from a hurt neck; and he was still soaked

"Ow! That really hurt" The Boy Wonder said aloud, soon the rest of the team was at his side

"Robin, are you unharmed?" Asked Starfire helping him on his feet

"I'm fine Star but we need to find Mumbo soon" Said Robin as he arranged his hair with one hand and pressed a button calling his motorcycle from the Garage in the tower to where they were "Titans we'll split up, Cyborg go west, Starfire north, Beast Boy South and Raven go to east; I'll check around here. Report if you find anything"

All the Titans nodded saving for one…

"The east?" Asked Raven "You mean that I have to check the forest?"

"Yes, you can fly above the trees and get a better view" Answered Robin; the roar of a motorcycle sounded near them and a moment later the R-Cycle stopped in front the group

"Can't I check the north or maybe the south?" Asked Raven hopeful, the Forest was definitely the last place she wanted to be and if there was any chance to avoid it she would be happy

"Sorry Rae, but you can feel presences and the Forest can't be explored quickly if it isn't flying, besides you won't need to penetrate it like Starfire or Beast Boy would" Robin explained putting his helmet on

"I can take the forest Robin" Requested Beast Boy to his leader

"I said no, you will go to the south and check the beach. Now everybody, go to work" With that Robin left on his motorcycle, he saw the way Beast Boy helped Raven and felt anger because he wasn't capable of do anything. More than jealously this time it was disappointment because he let the villain take him by surprise, and he almost drowned there.

Starfire took the sky as Cyborg made his way towards the T-Car. Beast Boy gave Raven a smile that showed that he really wanted to help but that she would be fine, Raven answered with a ghost of smile before the green changeling took the skies like an eagle

"There's nothing to worry about, I just go, check for any presence and then go back here or maybe to the tower" Raven said to herself with a sigh, the puppet was just a puppet and it wouldn't do any harm, besides maybe someone have already found it and moved it from that tree.

With that thought like her only comfort she levitated towards that place that had been haunting her since she first saw the doll hanging from that tree.

**Sia impaurito di coloro che non è vivo ma sia ancora qui/ Sia impaurito di coloro che non è vivo ma sia ancora qui**

The trip was shorter than she would like to but still the she was, after fly over it and see no sign of Mumbo she decided to land right before the forest

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos" She chanted in a calm voice after close her eyes leaving her powers travel all around the Forest, at the beginning she just felt animal presences like insects or little animals, then she found some other animals, bigger this time but still not human

She was about to give up when she felt another presence, it felt like a human one but then it didn't feel like one, like if someone was trying to confuse her the presence disappeared, she couldn't feel it anymore and neither remember where was where she had felt it. She tried again but it wasn't there, but some kind of magic was present and she knew that it was the reason because of why she couldn't feel the presence anymore

'_Maybe Mumbo is indeed here and is just playing trick with me' _She thought, but after try again she found something _'No, this isn't Mumbo. This isn't his kind of magic, this magic is dark magic like the one Malchior taught me. Mumbo's magic is more simple but this is antique, very old and way more powerful'_

Raven opened her eyes just to find something that wasn't there when she landed, or maybe she just didn't notice. The puppet. The same puppet she had seen that night when the team defeated Dr. Light hanging from a tree, she didn't know if it was the same that the other night or not but still it was there and again she felt like hypnotized by the creepy doll.

Now with more light she discovered that the puppet wasn't made just of wood, but it also had pieces of barbed wire in each joint: elbows, shoulders, wrists, ankles, knees, hips and neck. Now the puppet didn't see just creepy but dangerous, those wires would hurt badly if you touch them with too much force

Suddenly her mind was empty, just a void and her foot seemed to think by itself, she gave a step towards the forest and when she was about to give another

"Titans Report" Robin's voice sounded from her communicator waking her up, she took the object and opened it. On the screen appeared Cyborg

"Nothing man" Below him appeared Starfire's face with the same bored expression that Cy had

"I have not located the villain" Below her BB appeared with the same expression the other two Titans

"Nothing dude" Raven decided to answer as well, it sounded a bit unsure because she had found something strange but she was sure it wasn't Mumbo and that it was human. This will stay like a secret until she could find something else

"Nothing here" Robin face appeared as the other ones disappeared

"All right team, let's go back to the tower and search from there" With that the transmission finished leaving a black screen

Raven put the communicator back on her belt with a sigh that became an audible gasp as she turned around, there was no puppet. She looked around frantically thinking that maybe she was looking in the wrong direction but she couldn't find the puppet anywhere.

"Where did that go?" Asked Raven aloud still looking for any sign of the horrible doll and found none "This isn't something normal, a puppet can't move by itself"

Suddenly a loud roar sounded from the forest, but that didn't help at all, it just scared her even more. When the sound ended there were sound of branches that were being broken like someone or something was trying to open the way and the thing got worse when she discovered that the thing that was opening a path in the forest was going towards her.

Raven gave some steps backwards but the sound keep coming, each time it sounded louder and closer and somehow faster so she did the only thing that was able to do at that moment, she ran.

Her powers didn't work, she was too scared to concentrate and she couldn't levitate that was the only thing she wanted right now. _Azarath Metrion Zinthos… Azarath Metrion Zinthos! _She could hear that whatever that was following her was reaching her _AZARATH METRION ZINTHOS!... **AZARATH METRION ZINTHOS! **_Finally her feet got off the ground and she levitated towards the tower as fast as she could.

"Definitely something is happening there but I'm not going to go near there alone ever again" Raven said recovering her breathe "At least I managed to levitate, I didn't have enough control over my powers to make the teleportation but I need to know more about the forest"

She didn't notice the pair of dark eyes that were watching her from outside the forest.

**Sia impaurito di coloro che non è vivo ma sia ancora qui/ Sia impaurito di coloro che non è vivo ma sia ancora qui**

**So, there is it. What do you think about it?**

**Like I promised this had more action and a bit of horror than the last one, do you think is good the way this story is continuing?**

**The mystery has to be resolved but still you need more clues right? You'll receiving them along with Raven but I hope you can solve this before she does**

**The Italian words say: 'Be afraid of those who aren't alive but are sill here'**

**Please Review and see you soon! **


	4. Capitolo tre

**Hello there everyone!**

**Lady Shalafa: **Thanx, but my Italian is very, _very_ basic

**Serasvictoria66: **Thank you, let's see if you like this chapter

**CUTT3R.WiTH.A.CAUS3: **That was the idea with the puppet )

**The river (anon): **Thanks…

**CrazyInsomaniac: **It's ok that you have your own ideas in this case; having a lot of hypotheses will lead you to just one correct answer that you'll discover soon

**Zarola: **Yep you're right, I'm skeptical myself but I love to read things about ghosts and all that stuff

**Thanx for the reviews guys!**

**Non siete mai soli, siete sempre qui con voi/Non siete mai soli, siete sempre qui con voi/Non siete mai soli, siete sempre qui con voi**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the TT or the original book

**Where we left: **"Definitely something is happening there but I'm not going to go near there alone ever again" Raven said recovering her breathe "At least I managed to levitate, I didn't have enough control over my powers to make the teleportation but I need to know more about the forest"

She didn't notice the pair of dark eyes that were watching her from outside the forest.

**Now with the chapter…**

**Non siete mai soli, siete sempre qui con voi/Non siete mai soli, siete sempre qui con voi/Non siete mai soli, siete sempre qui con voi**

**CHAPTER 3**

**: Back at the Tower:**

Raven arrived soon after the horrible experience at the forest and found the rest of her team already in the living room looking for any sign of Mumbo, until then they hadn't found anything.

"How did he disappear just like that?" Asked a very frustrated Robin

"Chill man, we'll find him soon. Remember he likes to get a lot of attention and soon he'll attack again" Cyborg tried to comfort Robin, when the leader was mad was also very unexpected.

"Still we were a bunch of fools, he escaped pretty easy" Robin replied

"And talking about that, how did he escape from the police? He didn't has his wand with him so he couldn't do anything, 'sides he said the cops screamed and that the wand was in front him when the door opened by itself" BB remembered

"Yes, I am also confused about the story of the villain" Starfire agreed

"That isn't important now" Raven spoke for the first time "I think that we have to wait till Mumbo make his next move so we can follow him"

"Fine" Said Robin, as much as he hated to admit it his team was right "I'm going to bed"

"Dude, but it's just six o'clock" BB's words were ignored by the masked teen "Ok then"

Beast Boy turned on the television instead of playing videogames, maybe there was something interesting to see

"Friend, may I partake in the watching of television with you?" Asked Starfire, it was obvious that Robin wanted to be alone and after years of live with him she knew better than bother him when he wanted to be by himself

"Sure Star" Beast Boy patted the sit besides him and Starfire took seat

"Cyborg" Raven called to the big hero before he could go the garage

"Yeah?" He asked to the one that he liked to see like his little sister

"You know the forest that is outskirts the city?" Cyborg nodded "What can you say me about it?"

"Mmhh… I know that its name is 'The forest of Otalu'" Cyborg answered "It has been in here since ever, I guess it's smaller now because of the city, but I'm not sure and it also has a lake in there; many people says that's where the Americans used to hide a bomb during the Second World War and it filled with water of the rain"

"Have you ever seen the lake?" Asked Raven interested in the story

"Nope, the last time we went there was the End of the world but we didn't really explored the place" Now Cyborg was suspicious about all of this questions so he asked with a raised eyebrow "Why do you ask?"

"Well…" _'Should I tell him?' _Raven asked to herself _'Why not? Maybe he can help me and I don't need to tell him the whole thing' _"I had a bad feeling when I was looking for Mumbo there"

The big teen knew that it wasn't the whole truth, she seemed nervous about go to the forest when Robin had told her to search there and requested to go anywhere else; and if she had a bad feeling then something was right, he knew by experience that Raven's instincts didn't fail, never

"Rae, I know you're hiding something, what is it?" Raven sighed, fool her 'big brother' wouldn't work even if she tried

"Ok, but you have to keep this as a secret" Raven pointed Cyborg with a finger and her expression was very serous so the boy just nodded "Let's go to the hallway"

Once in the hallway Raven took a deep breath and began to talk

"Remember some weeks ago when we captured Dr. Light near the forest?"

"Yes" Cyborg answered

"Well, that day while you were interrogating him I looked towards the forest and I saw… a puppet"

"A puppet, what was a puppet doing there?" Cyborg wondered aloud, Raven sighed again

"I don't know, but it was horrible. The wood looked gross, the face was creepy and expressionless with the eyes empty and the mouth in a thin line that was neither a smile nor a frown. I was hanging from a tree and was as big as a four years old child"

"Really?"

"Yeah" Raven continued "And since then I have had this feeling, but today when I went there I felt a presence that I could've swore was a human one but when I tried to feel it again I couldn't; it was like something was shielding it, hiding it from me and it felt like dark magic" Cyborg remained silent and Raven knew he wasn't satisfied with the explanation

"And then I saw the puppet again, I wasn't sure if it was the same but looked very similar, and with the light I saw the joints were united by pieces of barbed wire. Then Robin called and when I looked again it was gone, after that I heard something moving in the forest, running towards me and I just ran till I managed to levitate here" The last words were louder, the simple memory of it made her shake with fear

"All of that happened?" Asked Cyborg surprised and a bit scared, scientist and all he still did believe in ghost and magic, Raven was living with him and say that he didn't believe in it was like say that he didn't believe in aliens when he had one living with him "And you couldn't see or feel anything else?"

"No" Raven shook her head "That's what has been happening and I don't know how to explain it"

Cyborg thought for a moment about what he had just heard and knew he needed to find her with this, maybe there was a real trouble in the forest and it needed to be attended

"How 'bout we go tomorrow to the forest and see what's happenin' there? In that way we can be sure that nothin' is outta place"

"I'm not sure, what if there's something really dangerous there" Raven replied unsure "Besides I don't want the rest to know this yet when we don't know if we have something to worry about"

"It can be just me and you if you want" Cy assured

"And what excuse will we make for Robin, you know he doesn't like the team to do that"

Cyborg was surprised, Raven was usually an Ice Queen that didn't show any kind of emotion excepts when she and Robin were dating, and after that she was a little more open with them but still it was strange see her so worried and scared. Cyborg remembered when he and Beast Boy entered to her mind and met her other personalities and he could tell that right now Timid was taking control over the other emotions, something that didn't happen very often

"Don't worry about it" Cyborg said while he put a hand on her shoulder "I'll take care of our stubborn leader here, but I think we should go and explore a little"

Raven thought about it, her curiosity about the forest of Olatu –like Cyborg told her was the name- was big like her curiosity for all the others things that resulted mysterious to her. And if it was going to be just this friend and her it wouldn't hurt, her trust on Cyborg was enough for her

"Ok, what time?" Cyborg smiled at her, happy that he had her trust

"We'll go about noon, that time the air is less cold than in the night or morning"

"Deal" Raven nodded once "I want to go to my room and read a bit, see you tomorrow"

"G'night" Cyborg said and headed back to the living room for get a snack

As soon as the door opened he discovered something; _someone_ was eavesdropping his conversation with the dark girl

"Beast Boy" Cyborg said in a menacing tone "What do you think you're doing?"

"Oh, heh heh… " BB stood up from the floor blushing and rubbing the back of hi head "Uh, nothin'?"

"Why were you listening our conversation?"

"I saw that Raven and you got out of the room and both of you seemed worried and serious so I decided to see what was happening" The green boy explained ashamed

"How much did you hear?"

"Let me see… like everything"

"And Star?" Asked Cyborg raising an eyebrow

"Is watching 'The world of Fungus'" Beast Boy jerked hi thumb towards the girl in the couch watching her favorite TV show

"Ok then but now that you know what is happening Raven you have to keep it like a secret, she doesn't want anyone to know it" What was done couldn't be changed and Cyborg could only pray BB not to tell a thing about this

"Of course" BB assured

"And now little grass stain, you'll help me with Robin tomorrow" Cyborg said to the younger boy dragging him towards the table

**Non siete mai soli, siete sempre qui con voi/Non siete mai soli, siete sempre qui con voi/Non siete mai soli, siete sempre qui con voi**

**: The next day at Titans Tower:**

It was 11: 47 AM and the whole team was already up and finishing breakfast, BB promised to help Cyborg and keep Robin occupied as long as he could and give him and Raven time to go out of the Tower without being discovered by the Boy Wonder, and the plan was about to start…

Robin had just finished his coffee and began to read the newspaper like everyday while the rest did what they wanted saving for the one that have to do the dishes, and today the job was for Starfire. Cyborg and Raven were at the table with Robin and BB was 'lost'

"Where's Beast Boy?" Robin asked noticing the silence in the room, suddenly a green Doberman took the newspaper in his snout and ran towards the door of the main room "Hey! GIVE IT BACK!"

The dog just teased him standing in front of the door looking at him and wagging his tail, the leader stood up with his face on a big frown

"Beast Boy, give me the paper back" He said calmed but dangerously, the dog just ran out the door "Come back!" Robin yelled

The other three titans looked at the door and before it could close they heard

"As soon as I catch you I'll kick you a-" And the door closed, again the rest of the team stared at the door, Starfire spoke first

"What happened?"

"Nothin' to worry about Star" Cyborg replied "They're just playin', Raven and I have to do something so we'll see you later"

Cyborg stood up and motioned Raven to follow him, they arrived to the garage and got on the T-Car

"What did you do to Beast Boy?" Asked Raven to the other teen

"I just said that we needed to go out and he helped me" Cyborg shrugged, Raven was still suspicious but dropped the subject there.

**Non siete mai soli, siete sempre qui con voi/Non siete mai soli, siete sempre qui con voi/Non siete mai soli, siete sempre qui con voi**

**: An hour later:**

The pair had been searching for an hour and found nothing, not puppet and not presence of any kind. The search was useless

"The search is useless" Raven said defeated "I can't find anything strange"

"Take it easy Rae" Cyborg said "maybe this was just a joke for scare the people"

"But how? I felt magic coming from this place just the last night and now I can't feel anything"

"I'm not sure but just chill, maybe we should go back to the Tower and see if BB is still alive" Cy remembered the poor boy was still with Robin after disobey him and the leader was dangerous if someone didn't follow his rules and commands

"He probably is still being chased by Robin" Raven smiled a bit

"Yeah, so we better get going ba-" Cyborg stopped abruptly as sounds of branches breaking began to sound from the forest, again something was going towards them and very fast

"That's what I heard yesterday" Raven said scared and backing away, Cyborg moved in front of her trying to protect the girl and aimed his cannon towards the sound

The sound was stronger now and they knew that whatever that was running was nearing with every step, Cyborg continued aiming his cannon and backed away a little moving Raven with him; nothing would attack her if he was there.

Just when the sound was in front them the figure jumped to the light revealing itself…

**Non siete mai soli, siete sempre qui con voi/Non siete mai soli, siete sempre qui con voi/Non siete mai soli, siete sempre qui con voi**

**So, do you hate me for leaving the story like this? Sorry but I needed (and wanted) to do it**

**Anyway, so far what do you think? ****Is this good, bad?**

**Please review!**

**The phrases in Italian say:** You're never alone, they're always here with you


	5. Capitolo quattro

**Hi people!**

**CUTT3R.WiTH.A.CAUS3: **I just needed to put it, thanx for the review and the votes

**Buttercup-babe:** Thank you

**Fdh:** ok then, thanx for voting

**Saga: **Thanx for the vote and the compliment, and about the Titans East don't worry, they'll arrive soon

**Serasvictoria666: **Lol, thanx for the comment and the votes

**Zarola: **Ok then but who would you like Herald to be with?

**Thanx y'all guys!**

**Che cosa era una volta può essere ancora, perché niente è andato per sempre / Che cosa era una volta può essere ancora, perché niente è andato per sempre**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the TT or the original book

**Where we left: **Just when the sound was in front them the figure jumped to the light revealing itself…

**Now with the story…**

**Che cosa era una volta può essere ancora, perché niente è andato per sempre / Che cosa era una volta può essere ancora, perché niente è andato per sempre**

**CHAPTER 4**

Cyborg shrieked and was ready to shoot when he stopped himself. Thanks to his mechanical eye he could identify what he was going to shoot at. Raven looked wondering why Cyborg had stopped and discovered what the danger was

"A dog?" Asked both teens aloud and feeling rather stupid

Indeed, in front of them was a dog. Its head reached to Raven's waist and had fur that wasn't too long but still wasn't short either and, if it wasn't because of the dirt the dog had over him, the fur would be a shining white with black spots over here and over there. The animal also had dark brown eyes and the ears high on his head expecting any kind of sound. But what was strange was the fact that the dog had a rope around his neck, surely he had been fighting to get free because there were red marks all over the neck

"_That_ is what was running towards us?" Asked Cyborg to no one

"The sound was louder than a dog running" Said Raven getting out from behind Cyborg, the dog wagged his tail and began to walk towards the two titans

"Look, he's hurt" Cyborg said al the dog stopped just in front of them checking its neck

"I can take care of that" Raven said taking the rope away from the dog's neck, she placed her hands on the marks. Soon a blue light illuminated her hands and the marks were completely gone

The dog felt better, they noted and immediately the animal was over Raven licking her face, she and Cyborg began to laugh, the dog was very cute and funny but…

"What was he doing in the forest with a rope around his neck?"

"Dunno Cyborg, maybe someone left him there, but I think it wasn't too long ago because he's pretty healthy"

"Yeah, do you think that maybe we could take him to the tower and take are of him until someone report him as lost?"

"I don't think so Cy, remember that Robin hardly accepted Silkie and he wouldn't like another animal in the Tower"

"That's right" Cyborg said rubbing his chin "But this isn't a genetically modified larva from a freak villain"

"Still, he won't like have the dog there" By this time Raven was back on his feet and the dog was running around them like there was no tomorrow

"It doesn't matter, I say we take him to the Tower and say the Boy Wonder that he can go to…" Cyborg was cut off by his communicator sounding as well as Raven's, the bigger Titan opened his screen on the arm and there appeared Robin "What's up man?"

"Two things, one: Both of you have to explain why you left and two: We received informs of Mumbo attacking the east of the city" As in cue an explosion sounded some miles away followed by a familiar laugh

"We're near the place Robin, you three come here as soon as you can and we'll try to stop him till you arrive here"

"Be careful you two, we'll get there as soon as we can" Robin assured and the connection ended

"Rae, let's go" Cyborg said looking at Raven

"Yeah but what about the dog?" Asked Raven, but when they looked for the dog the only thing they saw was the animal returning to the forest

"Either he's very coward or very smart" Cyborg commented

"Maybe both, let's go" Raven ended as she levitated and Cyborg ran towards the T-car

**Che cosa era una volta può essere ancora, perché niente è andato per sempre / Che cosa era una volta può essere ancora, perché niente è andato per sempre**

Soon the two Titans arrived where the explosion sounded and found Mumbo walking out of the bank with nothing but his wand in his hands

"Freeze!" Raven yelled as Cyborg stopped the T-car and got out of it

"Hey look, two Titans against me. Sorry but I don't have time to play" Mumbo replied aiming his wand towards Raven and shooting, a line of clothes of different colors cam flying at Raven so fast that she didn't have time to do anything and the clothes wrapped around her like a mummy, she almost fell to the ground but Cyborg caught her in the last moment with one arm while using his cannon to shoot Mumbo, but he dodged them with easy

"Stay still for we can get this over faster" Cyborg Said to Mumbo but the villain continued dodging

"If you want to get this over then let me finish it, Mumbo Jumbo!" The blue villain took his hat and pointed towards Cyborg, from the hat appeared a crowd of pigeons who flew into Cyborg, those weren't normal pigeons because the titan found himself being thrown to the other end of the street dropping Raven and falling on his back. The pigeons disappeared in the sky

"Well, you certainly were a great assistants for my show, but I'm afraid that is time for the last act" Mumbo announced aiming his wand to the fallen titans once again "Mumbo Jum-aaggrr!"

"The final act is called 'Destroying the villain' and I think that you would be a great assistant for that Mumbo" Robin had thrown a bird-a-rang to Mumbo making him drop the wand and hold his hand in pain

"I don't think so child, this show is _mine_" Mumbo tried to reach his wand but a rain of starbolts stopped him before he could take it, Starfire was just above him shooting her bolts with her eyes burning in a bright green color

"You shall not retrieve your wand" She yelled to him shooting her eyebeams making the villain run backwards in hope of not be burned by the alien princess

Mumbo then put his hand upwards and two bombs appeared magically there, he threw them to Starfire and she flew higher in the air saving from the explosion. Mumbo took this chance to take his wand again

When he stood up straight he needed to bend down again in order to dodge a bo-staff that was about to hit on the head, and then jump backwards out of the reach of the weapon that now was going to hit him square in the stomach

Robin stood there in a battle stance and Starfire floated down to him, a smirk appeared on Mumbo's face. Before anyone could no anything he used his wand to attack the two titans before him

"Mumbo Jumbo" Mumbo said and in less than a blink Starfire and Robin were trapped inside of a big ice cube "You have to cool off titans"

"Starfire, melt the ice" Robin told to Star who nodded and put her hand together shooting a green ray. But the only thing that happened was that some water drops were sliding down the ice "What the?"

"The ice, as all the things that I create, in magic and it will take more than just some shots for melt it" Mumbo explained proudly "And now I'll finish with you"

Suddenly a green blur passed in front of him taking the wand with it

"Huh?" Mumbo said aloud, he looked at his side and saw a green wolf with his wand on his snout "Oh, nice doggie just give me the wand and I'll give you a big piece of meat"

The wolf growled and tightened the hold on the wand

"No, bad dog" Give me that back!" Just then the wolf broke the wand and the blue villain became the old bald man that he really was, his hat disappeared and the bags of money that Mumbo had stole fell on his head

"Dude, I'm a vegetarian" Beast Boy said to the now unconscious villain

The clothes around Raven disappeared and Cyborg went to her side helping her up, the ice cube also disappeared and all that was left were two shivering titans

"He certainly likes to wrap thing around his rivals" Raven said to Cyborg as both of them ran towards their friends

"G-good job B-be-beast Bo-oy" Said Robin between his clattering teeth

"No prob Rob, but I think we should get back to the tower before you and Star catch a cold" Beast Boy said looking that now his friends were slightly blue for being so much time in the cold

"Yeah, you can get warm in the tower" Cyborg agreed. The rest followed him to the T-car, this was one of those strange times that Robin hadn't take his motorbike to the battle and told Starfire to help him go to the fight scene

**Che cosa era una volta può essere ancora, perché niente è andato per sempre / Che cosa era una volta può essere ancora, perché niente è andato per sempre**

When the Titans arrived to the Tower Raven prepared some tea for Robin and Starfire while Cyborg and Beast Boy gave them some blankets hoping their friends wouldn't get sick.

"So" Robin started after take a sip of his tea "Why did you left without telling me?"

"We just needed some fresh air" Cyborg answered

"Oh yeah? And where did you go?" Continued the leader

"Over here, over there, over right there. Just out" Cyborg answered calmed like just nothing happened

"I'm the leader and I demand to know exactly where you were, the reason for why you were there and also why you didn't tell me that you were going to go out" Robin demanded putting his cup on the table and standing up taking the blanket off of his shoulders

"We didn't do anything, I was going to get new parts for the T-car and asked Raven if she wanted to come along, she said yes and we went out" Cyborg explained exasperated "And we didn't tell you 'cause it ain't _that_ important, you're not our mom"

"You knew we were going to train today and we couldn't because you two were out!"

"Just chill a moment Robin, we can train another day and it wouldn't be any kind of difference"

"You know? I'm going to bed, a headache is coming. Tomorrow we'll decide when the train will start" Robin was about to get out of the room before look back at his team "And Cyborg, Beast Boy and Raven will train two hours more"

"WHAT?" Yelled the three mentioned titans

"You heard me, see you tomorrow" Ended Robin walking away

"Dude, that's so not fair! I bet those tights are tighter than I have thought!" Said BB once Robin couldn't hear

"Three hours Beast Boy!" …Or that was what he thought

"Oh, man!" BB crossed his arm over his chest

"Do not fear friends, I will train with you if you wish so!" Starfire tried to light the situation

"No Star, it's ok. Maybe you should get some rest and hope you don't get a cold" Raven suggested

"All right friend, I will sleep and hope the cold not to get me" Starfire said "But are you sure you do not wish me to practice with you the extra hours you will train?"

"Absolutely, sleep well Star" Cyborg answered

"Thank you" With that Starfire flew to her room

"So, BB what happened after we left?" Asked Cyborg to the green teen

"We ran for the whole tower, including the basement and the roof. When we finally returned here I tripped and he caught me. Just when he was about to yell at me the alarm sounded" BB said

"You really wasted an hour running around the tower?" Asked Raven surprised

"Yeah, the boy really has a very good physical condition" Beast Boy replied

"And now we're all going to die in the training" Cyborg commented

"We can't do anything else" Raven sighed

"Yeah, but for the moment how about a videogame Cyborg?" Asked the changeling changing the subject

"You got it grass stain!" Cyborg agreed and started to play

Raven stayed there, not watching but thinking. Why there was no presence in the forest if just the last night she felt a strong dark magic barrier there. Nothing happened today besides the dog, no puppet and no presence

And what with the dog, what was he doing there with a rope around his neck. Maybe, seeing that today there was not presence, she could go to the forest the next day and see if he was still there, if the dog was alone then she would bring it to the Tower no matter if Robin liked it or not, besides she was already punished.

**Che cosa era una volta può essere ancora, perché niente è andato per sempre / Che cosa era una volta può essere ancora, perché niente è andato per sempre**

The next day was pretty cold, Raven woke up around 7 o'clock but she decided to meditate in her room and by now it was half past nine.

Raven was feeling her legs very cold and even with the long sleeves of her leotard the cold air reached her skin so she searched for her winter uniform even when they were a month before winter to arrive. She put on her black pants and blue jacket. She was deciding if she should wear her clack, but it was too much warm and the day wasn't _that _cold so she simple took the hood that came along with the jacket and buttoned them together, now she had a dark blue hooded jacket

Raven walked out of her room and into the kitchen, no one was up yet; wired, usually Robin and Starfire would be up by now. Raven shrugged, maybe they caught the cold after all.

After finish her tea she remembered what she wanted to do that day so without another thing she walked towards the roof and levitated to the forest.

Raven stopped in a building some miles away the forest and looked for any kind of magic presence in there, after found nothing she went to stand just before the forest. Once again she didn't saw any puppet so she simply began to walk along the path out of the forest

After about five minutes she heard something running towards her, she stayed in battle position in case it wasn't the dog of the day before. Again she felt a bit scared, not like the past weeks but just anxious

Suddenly the dog jumped from the bushes and jumped around her like he was happy of see her again

"Hi boy, here again?" She asked knowing that she wasn't going to get an answer but still the dog continued jumping. Then he took her by the jacket and started to pull her into the forest "You want me to enter there?"

The dog just continued pulling so she started to walk towards the forest, the dog left her and started to walk some steps before her, looking back once a while like making sure she was still following.

After some meters she arrived to a trellis, stopping anyone top go further, but the dog just walked to the side and went down it, the aperture was big enough for her to her through so she just followed.

After enter Raven saw around her and saw a puppet, different to the other one, this was smaller but the rest was the same: the empty expression, the gross wood and the barbed wire. And then she saw another one, this time bigger, and then other and other, they were occupying almost all the branches of many of the trees there.

A shiver ran down her spine and turned to leave but she was stopped by the dog that took her by the jacket and started to pull her again further into the place

"I don't want to…" She said to the dog but the pleading eyes he had as he pulled make her sigh in defeat "Just because you seem so sure about this" She continued walking and the dog let her go

It wasn't too much time until she arrived to a different place of the forest, there was the lake that Cyborg had mentioned. The water was black for the deep of the hole there and a root of a huge willow reached the edge of the lake. The others trees around there were still with some leaves and the light of the sun gave the place a calming air. The place was simply beautiful

A bark woke her up from her thoughts and she looked down to see the dog running away nearer to the lake where she saw another person that was strangely familiar from the back. The person looked down at the dog and bent down a little for pet him. The dog walked back a little and now Raven could see the profile of the person, and she knew who was there

"Speedy?"

**Che cosa era una volta può essere ancora, perché niente è andato per sempre / Che cosa era una volta può essere ancora, perché niente è andato per sempre**

**OK, end of the chapter, how was this one?**

**Sorry if Robin is acting a bit… strange but he'll become cooler soon. **

**Finally Speedy appeared and things will be more interesting, or I hope so. I just need to write well and then the job will be ready.** **P****lease review**

**The phrases in Italian say: **'What was once can be again, because nothing is gone forever'

**C ya!**


	6. Capitolo cinque

**Hey, what's up?**

**Serasvictoria666: **Thank you very much, now that Speedy is here the thing will be more interesting

**Robraefan: **Thanx, Speedy is an important character here and you'll see why

**Buttercup-babe: **Thanks for review

**Woah (anon): **I don't think they'll appear here, just be mentioned

**Zarola: **Thanx, they're pretty easy to think about.

**CrazyInsomaniac: **LOL.I feel totally flattered by your words, I really appreciate the people like my stories. You'll see that Speedy is really important here

**Thanks for the reviews guys, I really appreciate them**

**Non possiamo vedere che cosa non è reale, ma che cosa non è reale sta vedendoli sempre/ Non possiamo vedere che cosa non è reale, ma che cosa non è reale sta vedendoli sempre**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own TT or the original book by Jenny Jones

**Where we left: **A bark woke her up from her thoughts and she looked down to see the dog running away nearer to the lake where she saw another person that was strangely familiar from the back. The person looked down at the dog and bent down a little for pet him. The dog walked back a little and now Raven could see the profile of the person, and she knew who was there

"Speedy?"

**Now with the Chapter...**

**Non possiamo vedere che cosa non è reale, ma che cosa non è reale sta vedendoli sempre/ Non possiamo vedere che cosa non è reale, ma che cosa non è reale sta vedendoli sempre**

**CHAPTER 5**

"Raven?" Speedy got on his feet to look at the girl that had just arrived "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question, overall because this isn't your city" Raven replied, now she knew what she didn't realize sooner who he was, he had on a brown leather jacket and his arrows and bow were missing

"You have a point there" Speedy gave a nod and looked back at the dog that was looking up at him wagging his tail "I guess Smirks found you"

"Smirks?" Asked Raven raising an eyebrow

"Yup" Then Speedy make a sign with his hand for her to go nearer "Come, I'll show you"

Raven walked at his side and Speedy bent down cupping the dog face and showing it to Raven, now she understood, the dog's snout seemed like forming a smirk every time the dog opened it

"Oh, I see. Is he your dog?" Asked Raven, Speedy shrugged standing up straight

"You could say so; I found him here and took care of him since then"

"Since when?" Asked Raven returning to her initial question

"Remember when you went out searching for the Brotherhood of Evil and told us to protect the city 'till you could find another hero?" Asked Speedy looking Raven in the eyes, she nodded "Well, in that time I decided to explore the city and found this forest and the lake, I liked the place and came here everyday. After the Brotherhood was defeated I continued to come here twice a week or so but I found this place so beautiful that I have been coming here everyday almost three months now"

"Everyday? What about your team?" Knowing that he has been coming here since three moths now every day was surprising

"I return to Steel City every time we have trouble, Bumblebee knows about this and told me she didn't mind as long as I don't fail in the missions"

"But how can you get there so quickly? Cyborg has to travel two hours just to get there"

"The last time we saw each other I talked with Cyborg and Robin about how they make their vehicles faster and then I built myself a motorcycle, adding some personal details to it and the correct chemicals for the combustible I get there in ten minutes max" Raven was shocked

"Really just ten minutes?"

"Yep, Cyborg could get there with the T-car in half an hour if he wanted but you know how careful is he with his car" Speedy laughed a bit with that, Raven smiled she better than anyone knew how much Cyborg loved his car

"You have been doing your homework, build yourself a motorcycle?" She asked while Smirks was chasing a butterfly

"It wasn't hard, wanna see it?" Asked Speedy jerking his thumb towards the trees at the other side Raven came there. Raven looked up and saw a pair of puppets hanging there, one of them was as big as Beast Boy and the other was like a baby not older than two months

"Sure, but first I have a question" Speedy looked at her and raised an eyebrow "What do you know about those puppets?"

The boy saw the puppets and his expression changer from happy to disappointed

"I made them" He answered plainly "All the puppets that you see here are mine"

"You made them?" Asked Raven scared, was it possible that he had done all of those dolls just by himself "All of them, how? Why?"

"It's just a hobby" Speedy shrugged "And I made them with this" He took a knife from his belt "But they aren't the prettiest dolls ever, huh?"

"Agreed" Raven answered without think, and the covered her mouth with one hand and her eye widened, Speedy laughed a cold laugh

"I know it, but maybe I can get better with the time"

"Why do you put them on the branches of the forest?"

"Not many people come here, they go to the other side where the path is totally open because they're scared of get lose here so I don't think they'll mind if I use the trees like shelves for them" He finished with a smile and Raven nodded understanding

"Can I see it?" Raven pointed the knife

"Sure" He handed her the object and she took it very carefully

The knife was very strange; the handle was made by something that looked strangely like bone and the blade had something like letters, an inscription in a language that she couldn't identify. The object was beautiful in a dark way

"What does it say?" The empath asked handing the knife back to his owner

"Dunno, I was hopping that maybe you could know that. Robin told me that you knew some antiques languages, but now that you don't what it says either then I guess we'll have to live with that mystery"

"Cyborg can find the translation with his technology, you can come to the Tower with me if you want"

"Thanks, but maybe some other day" Speedy put his knife on his belt again and sighed remembering something "How have you been feeling lately?"

"Huh?" Raven knew she sounded stupid but didn't know what he was talking about

"I know it have been six moths but still, you live with him"

"Oh, that" Raven looked down for a second and then looked at Speedy again "I got over it some time now, and we are friends again"

"Just like that, wow, so easy" Speedy knew she wasn't totally honest but didn't push it further "So wanna see my 'baby'?" He asked imitating Cyborg

"Sure" They haven't advanced two steps and Raven's communicator sounded, she picked it up lazily and opened it "Raven here" She wasn't surprised to find that Robin's face appeared in the screen

"Raven, where are you?" His voice was normal, he hadn't caught the cold

"I'm in the forest with…" She looked up and saw Speedy shaking his head and mouthed a 'No', he didn't want the others to know he was there "with a good book, what do you want?"

"We are going to discuss when are we going to train and I want you back here now"

"Can't you decide without me?" Raven wasn't in the mood to discuss about the training, she didn't like to train and besides the final word was Robin's

"The team will take this decision _together_ so I want you here at least you wish to train three extra hours like Beast Boy" Raven groaned at this

"I'm on my way" With that Raven hung up and looked back to Speedy

"Three extra hours?" He asked with a smirk and a raised eyebrow "I'm so glad of not being on your team"

"You don't know how lucky you are" Raven gave him a little smile "Why did you tell me not tell that you were with me?"

"I don't want the others to know that I come here everyday because Robin will yell at me and Bumblebee. The rest of my own team doesn't know that I come here, they just know that I'm out before thy wake up and come back home at night and for missions"

"I'll keep the secret but still I don't know why come here for a forest when is one in your own city"

"I don't know either to be honest" Speedy looked at the lake and continued "But I like a lot this place and I want to keep coming"

"Ok then, maybe I'll see you later" With that Raven levitated out of the forest with Smirks barking to her

"Looking forward to it" Speedy whispered to himself, she was the only one who knew that he was there and some company wouldn't hurt

**Non possiamo vedere che cosa non è reale, ma che cosa non è reale sta vedendoli sempre/ Non possiamo vedere che cosa non è reale, ma che cosa non è reale sta vedendoli sempre**

**: In the Tower:**

Robin and the rest of the team were in the living room waiting for Raven to go back, and the four of them were in deep thought, although all of them different in some way

'_Did she go back to the forest because the dog?' _Cyborg thought _'Maybe she decided to bring him here, I'm glad she isn't scared of that place anymore, surely the puppet was just for scare the people and the feeling was just because her fear, her powers must have been out of control at the moment'_

'_Back to the forest?' _This was the question in BB's head _'Wasn't she scared out her skin just two days ago by that? This isn't right… Or were they just joking for make me get in trouble with Robin?… Nah, they are in trouble as well. But then what's going on?'_

'_Again she got out without telling us' _Robin thought while pacing in front his teammates that were sitting on the couch _'Is she keeping a secret or something? What if she already found another one, a new boy she has feelings for? That can be a possibility that I wish isn't the truth, and if it is I would love to see that brat and give him what he deserves'_

'_I think this is very odd' _This was in Starfire's head _'I saw Raven was nervous when Robin told her to look in the forest and now she went back there, has she found something there and does not wish to tell us? Does she trust us no more? No, she trusts us and I am certain that she will tell us what is bothering her when our friend feel ready to do it'_

Just then Raven entered to the main room and saw all of them deep in thought, she wanted revenge on Robin so she planned something. With a smirk on her face she used her telekinetic powers and turned on the TV that had at the moment a heavy rock music video in the same channel Beast Boy had left it the night before, oh the irony.

The reactions were immediate

Starfire jumped in the air and landed on the floor with a thud while Beast Boy morphed in a lizard and used his legs to stick himself to the ceiling shaking. Cyborg gave a scream, like a little girl and kneeled on the floor covering his head with his hands. But Robin on the other hand took out his bostaff and aimed it to the TV standing in a protective position

Raven snickered at her friends' behavior making them all turn their heads towards her

"Sorry, did I scare you?" Raven wasn't sorry at all and all her friends noted it, and what she noted was that the Tower felt warmer than normal _'Cyborg must have activated the calefaction already'_

"Glad to see you're back" Robin said retracting his bostaff while the rest sat on the couch again red like big tomatoes

"Did I have a choice?" Asked Raven sitting between Cyborg and Beast Boy

"No, but anyway, this days have been very cold and I don't want anyone to get sick if we train in the obstacle course and the exercise in the gym are too easy fro us, however we'll continue training there sometimes" The team groaned at this "So Cyborg and I have been working in a new training based on virtual reality" Now all the team seemed interested "We used the room in which we tried to hide Raven from her father when the end of the world came to it, in that way we can see every move from the window near the top of the room and the Titan training will have a lot of space to move"

"And who are we going to fight with?" Asked BB

"I took movements from some villains like Mumbo, Dr. Light and even Red X and Slade from security cameras and my own database and programmed it in the computer we're going to use for the training, we chose a villain and you fight against it like if it was a real battle, you'll feel everything like if it is real" Cyborg answered proud

"Cool!" Beast Boy exclaimed

"And now when do you want to use it? I'm planning to use it tomorrow" Robin said to the team

"I think that tomorrow would be great" Starfire agreed

"Yeah, I'm waiting to fight with those villains, three more hours training with it and soon I'll become the best here!" BB said exited

"Beast Boy, the extra hours will be at the gym, and I'll be supervising" Robin explained and the punished titans tried to hold back a groan that was going to escape

"But that isn't fun" Complained the changeling

"I suggest you to find the funny side to the punching bag, weights and push ups because the punish will have all of them" Robin said

"I'm so going to die tomorrow" Beast Boy said

"At least you won't be alone" Raven said trying to cheer her friend

"Yeah, but the last hour I'll be" BB said looking at Raven and the resting the back of his head on her lap like a pleading position he continued "Is there the possibility of Raven to coach me the last hour?"

"No" Robin almost yelled in a voice that make all of them startled "I'll watch you all the time Beast Boy and that's final"

"Ok, ok" Beast Boy sat up immediately "I was just kidding, jeez"

"Raven" Robin said forgetting about Beast Boy "You left again without advice"

"I decided to go to the forest and read a bit. I got bored of the Tower" She explained herself

"Couldn't you at least leave a note or something?"

"I have my own life Robin, besides, if I got in trouble I would have called without a second thought"

"The next time I want to tell me if any of you go out the tower, I want where you're going to go and how long will you stay there" This time Robin talked to the whole team

"What are you, our mother?" Asked Cyborg

"The leader and I care about my team" Robin said

"You treat us like babies!" Cyborg yelled at him

"I do what's better for the team!" Robin yelled back

"Dude, you're treating us like if we can't take care of ourselves!" This time was Beast Boy

The argument continued like that and Raven sighed _'Boys'_

"Friend Raven" Starfire called "Do you think we should stop them?"

"No, leave them alone" Rave answered

"Ok, would you like to go with me to the garden and see if the flowers are growing correctly?"

"Sure why not?" Raven shrugged and both girls left the boys arguing. Still in Raven's mind was the odd discover that she made at the forest _'I have to see him again, something just doesn't feel right'_

**Non possiamo vedere che cosa non è reale, ma che cosa non è reale sta vedendoli sempre/ Non possiamo vedere che cosa non è reale, ma che cosa non è reale sta vedendoli sempre**

**Ok, that was the chapter, a lot of information here. Speedy likes the forest and goes there everyday and Raven just discovered. The rest are oblivious and Raven still feels something isn't right, what could it be?**

**The phrase today is: **'We can't see what isn't real, but what isn't real is always seeing us'

**Now, with the new pool. Look, the next story is a BB/Rae/Rob story, AU because has become pretty easy to put the Titans in another kind of job, but the other pairs are still to be decided and I want you to help me with it k? This can be anyone with anyone so there are no limits and here are the characters: **

**Cyborg, Speedy, Hot Spot, Herald, Kid Flash, Bushido, Lighting, Thunder Kilowatt, Red Star, Super Boy, Terra, Starfire, Bumblebee, Aqualad, Argent, Pantha, Kole and Gnaark.**

**You have two weeks because I have another fic in mind and you'll chose again, yep it's another AU but just that will be said.**

**See you the next Chapter!**


	7. Capitolo sei

**What's up?**

**Adelaide (anon): **Um, ok. Thanx!

**Serasvictoria666: **Tell me, does this seem that easy to resolve? There's a lot more about the forest that you'll discover, Thank you so much for the review!

**RaeRobFan: **Thank you, I'm glad you like my story and writings. Hope you enjoy what's coming!

**CrazyInsomaniac: **Thanks for the compliments. So you caught that there's something strange with Speedy, good job (gives you a cookie) and for Robin don't worry too much

**Saga (anon): **Thank you, really!

**Zarola: **ok, thanks

**Glad you guys like the story, hope you like what's coming. I assure you there's a lot more coming**

**Niente di ultimo per sempre, ma quanto tempo è per sempre per quelli di cui il tempo non conta perché già lo hanno perso?**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own The TT or the original book by Jenny Jones

**Where we left: **"Ok, would you like to go with me to the garden and see if the flowers are growing correctly?"

"Sure why not?" Raven shrugged and both girls left the boys arguing. Still in Raven's mind was the odd discover that she made at the forest _'I have to see him again, something just doesn't feel right'_

**Now with the story…**

**Niente di ultimo per sempre, ma quanto tempo è per sempre per quelli di cui il tempo non conta perché già lo hanno perso?**

**CHAPTER 6**

**: At the Garden:**

Starfire and Raven were walking through the garden checking the some plants and flowers that were there, most of them were either closing or dying because the cold Autumn wind, except for Starfire's plants which were resistant to this kind of cold

Both girls were quiet just looking around but Starfire decided to break the silence since she was curious about Raven's behavior

"Friend Raven, is there something bothering you?" Raven looked up at her friend

"No, why do you ask?"

"You have been acting odd lately, like with the forest; first you seemed like you would rather go anywhere but there a couple of days ago, but now you went alone to the forest without telling us"

"I told you that I got bored of the Tower and decided to go out"

"But if you did not like the forest then why go there?" Raven looked down, what could she say? She found out that the human presence was Speedy and that he was the one who made those creepy puppets so there was nothing to worry about. But still what happened to the dark magic she felt while looking for Mumbo?

"Well, I- At first didn't like the forest but after search Mumbo there I found it was very peaceful" She answered hoping Starfire could buy it

"Then you like the forest now, yes?" Ok, she bought it

"Yeah, I really like it"

"Glorious!" Star exclaimed "Shall I go with you in your next visit?"

"Uh… um" Raven just couldn't answer, if she says 'no' Starfire would be sad, but if she says 'yes' then the Tamaranian would discover Speedy was there:

"Hey girls!" _Saved by the boys_ Raven thought as she saw the boys walking towards them with happy faces _Already happy? How did they finished they fight this time?_

"Hello my friends, you are no longer angry with each other yes?" Starfire asked forgetting about her question to Raven

"No Star, we're ok" BB answered "Would you like to come with us to rent a movie?" Raven raised an eyebrow, they started with an argument about Robin overprotective attitude and finished wanting to rent a movie?

"Ok, what happened after Starfire and I left?"

"Well, you see…" BB started

_**Flashback**_

_The girls left and the boys didn't take notice, they continued fighting instead_

"_I'll take all the precautions to be sure we stay out of danger!" Robin said_

"_We're superheroes Robin, danger is our last name!" Cyborg retorted_

"_My last name is Logan!" BB said changing the subject_

"_This ain't the moment for jokes Beast Boy!" Cyborg shouted_

"_It's the truth" The changeling said_

"_Anyway" Robin interrupted "I know what's best for the team!"_

"_You take things way to seriously" The robot said_

"_I need to be serious for I can help the team and keep it up!"_

"_Dude, just relax a bit like before. Take things easy, chill and give us more liberty" BB suggested_

"_How can I when a lot of villains escaped from the Brotherhood of Evil when we froze them?"_

"_We're a team and each one of us can take care of ourselves" Cyborg assured_

"_Still, that doesn't mean I can let you just like that"_

"_You can, c'mon Robin you are more obsessive than that monster of 'Wicked Scary'" BB commented_

"'_Wicked Scary'?" Robin echoed_

"_Yeah, remember; when Raven created all of those monsters and we disappeared" Beast Boy answered_

"_Oh, yeah man what a cool movie!" Cyborg exclaimed_

"_Yeah, it totally scared us out of our skin" Beast Boy agreed_

"_I can't wait to get the sequel!" _

"_Is there a sequel?" Robin asked interested_

"_Yup, by the way, what day is today?" Asked BB, Cyborg checked the date on his own calendar, programmed in his arm_

"_Today is the day!" Cyborg exclaimed "We can rent it now!"_

"_Sweet! Let's go for it!" The green boy jumped in the air_

"_Yeah sure, what do you think girls?" Asked Robin looking back at the couch just to find it empty "Where are they? And when did they left?"_

"_Dunno when they left but they're now in the garden" Cyborg answered _

"_We gotta get 'em and then go to the video rent" Beast Boy said as he got out of the room, the other two closely behind_

_**End Flashback**_

"And that happened" Cyborg finished, both girls sweat-dropped

"Ok then, you wanna get 'Wicked Scary 2'?" Raven asked, the boys nodded

"So, you comin' along?" Asked BB

"I shall go with you friends!" Starfire said happy

"Raven?" Asked Robin, all the team turned to her

"No thanks, I'll stay here" Raven replied

"Aw, come on Raven" Cyborg pleaded

"I don't want to" She insisted

"Raven, come with us" Robin said

"I don't want to" She repeated

"Friend, please come along" Now Starfire asked

"I said I don't want to go with you" Raven was growing irritated

"I know what will make you come" Beast Boy singed

"I don't-"

**Niente di ultimo per sempre, ma quanto tempo è per sempre per quelli di cui il tempo non conta perché già lo hanno perso?**

**: At the T-car:**

"- Believe I'm doing this" Raven grunted from the back seat of the T-car as a green puppy barked from her lap

Beast Boy made Raven go with them by morphing himself in a puppy and give her that 'sad-puppy-eyes' he knew wouldn't fail, it was like using 'the Face' with Starfire, who was on the back seat of the car while Cyborg and Robin went in the front

"Beast Boy knows how to make her agree with our suggestions" Cyborg commented

"Yeah, I know" Robin sighed defeated, again he wasn't the one capable of make Raven join them to their plans

"I don't know why I'm coming, I'm not going to see the movie anyways" Raven said

"You won't?" Asked Cyborg

"Nope" She answered "I don't want to cause the same troubles I caused the last time a saw a Horror movie"

"But, to can feel now, and you know that the only way that can happen again is by denying your emotions" Robin reasoned

"I know, but still I won't watch it, I wanted to stay at the Tower all day"

"If you wanted to stay in the Tower _all day _then why did you go to the forest this morning?" Asked Robin looking at her by the rear mirror

"I wanted to stay all day in the Tower _after_ read a while in the forest" Raven rephrased

"All right" Robin sighed and then looked back at her, and something on her lap "Beast Boy, she's coming and you can get off her you know?" he asked as politely as he could

None of the Titans knew when that happened but Beast Boy was now falling asleep on Raven's lap. He felt warm, she still was using her winter clothes, Robin and himself put on a each one hi own jacket and Cyborg and Starfire decided to stay like they were being that they didn't feel the winter as much as the others, although Cyborg knew he would be using a coat when the winter was already started

Robin watched how the changeling looked up with sleepy eyes, yawned and lowered his head again planning to take his nap, Robin growled

"Beast Boy-"

"Ya better wake up 'cause we're here" Cyborg finished as they turned a corner and he prepared to park the car

Beast Boy immediately hopped off Raven's lap and stretched before morph back to his human form

"I was just going to take a nap"

"Excuse me, who told you I would allow you to sleep on me?" Asked Raven raising an eyebrow

"You didn't shove me"

"Yet" She finished for him and then she got out of the car followed by Beast Boy

"Aw, you would be so cruel to shove a little cute green puppy off of you while he was sleeping?"

"Maybe" She smirked

"The I would have to bite you" He smirked as well, just then Robin stepped between the two of them before they either started to fight, or started to get too friendly

"Let's go for the movie" The five entered to the building and began to look for the movie

Raven went with them to the Horror/Suspense category, as the rest started to search she just looked to the movies in front of her. She found many the team had already watched, she also had most of them before even know about 'Wicked Scary'.

Soon her eyes fell on a movie, she hold her breath. There, in the front part was an image that resulted somehow familiar; behind a few trees you could clearly see a creature's red eye, and around him were creatures of whom you could only see the outline, but it was almost identical to the ones of the puppets that Speedy had made.

When she was about to read the description Robin looked over her shoulder and spoke

"Hey, you found it" Raven jumped making her shoulder close Robin's mouth hurting him "Ow"

"Robin, don't do that again" She said recovering from the surprise

"Sorry" Robin said rubbing his jaw "But at least you found the movie"

Raven looked to the title and, indeed, it said 'Wicked Scary 2'

"Oh" She said "Ok, let's call the rest"

Soon they got out of the place and decided to go to get some pizza, Raven was getting bored of always eat the same. After the discussion of everyday, eat as they talked, and pay they headed back to the Tower.

**Niente di ultimo per sempre, ma quanto tempo è per sempre per quelli di cui il tempo non conta perché già lo hanno perso?**

**: Later that day: **

All the Titans were in the living room, they were just about start the movie. By now it was 6 pm, and as strangely as it can sound Raven hadn't go to her room since they arrived to the Tower, she prepared herself a cup of tea and read while Cyborg and Beast Boy played a race game, Robin stayed in the gym and Star cleaned and feed Silkie before go and cheer Cy and BB

"Ok dudes and dudetess it's show time!" Beast Boy announced as everybody took their sits on the couch

"I thought you weren't goin to see the movie Raven" Robin said sitting besides the dark girl who shrugged

"What's the worst that can happen?" She asked, but the real reason of why she was going to see the movie was because she wanted to distract herself of the forest, the puppets and –how she hated to admit it- Speedy.

"Ok, everybody take your sits, prepare your popcorn and sodas for the sequel of the scariest movie ever" Beast Boy announced taking the remote "The continuation of the movie with monster staring" he continued ready to push the button before stop again "The movie that scared even our fearless dark princess, Raven" Again he attempted to push the button before stop… _again _"The movie that-"

"JUST START THE MOVIE!" The rest of the team yelled irritated

"OK, ok, there" Beast Boy finally started the movie

**Niente di ultimo per sempre, ma quanto tempo è per sempre per quelli di cui il tempo non conta perché già lo hanno perso?**

**: Two hours later:**

Raven was walking towards her room; actually the movie was pretty good. It was about how the creature controlled puppets it had make to capture victims and devour their brains.

The forest they used to make the movie was the forest of Olatu and they explained that the forest was a place where the American army hid a big bomb and that there were a lot of deaths, that part wasn't a lie, the movie said so at the end, but the rest was just part of the creator imagination. That story was the base to the creature, it used the spirits of the dead people to control the dolls he it had made.

'_Maybe that's why I felt dark magic the other day' _Raven shook her head, it wasn't possible, the story was a lie and besides she didn't feel spirits in the forest.

She shrugged and entered to her room just to feel a strange breeze on her face. She looked around and saw the curtain moving with the wind, _'Wind?' _She thought, she hadn't left the window open.

Raven walked over the window and saw a little hole in the right corner of the crystal, around it there were signs that the crystal would brake even more if she didn't repair it. She used her powers to repair that but didn't found the pieces of crystal that were supposed to be on the floor because of the broken window

"How did it break anyway?" Wondered Raven aloud before make a tape float to her from one of her drawers "Maybe the crystal was already weak and it broke by itself"

The titan covered the hole, not bigger than her head, with the tape and walked over her dresser. She didn't want to sleep with her uniform so she took a purple long sleeved shirt that was way to big for her and a pair of black pyjamas pants before crawl on her bed

She was planning to see Speedy again just to be sure nothing was wrong there, and besides she enjoyed to talk with him about nothing in special, talk to someone before the four teens she lived with would help a lot; besides she didn't know him at all, this was a good chance to do it… Why she cared? _'It's just curiosity' _She assured herself before sleep took over

What Raven didn't know was that the 'bad things' had already started

**Niente di ultimo per sempre, ma quanto tempo è per sempre per quelli di cui il tempo non conta perché già lo hanno perso?**

**Am I evil? This episode gives something to think about huh? **

**Ok, in the next episode Speedy is going to appear again, and will have a little conversation with Raven, but something is going to happen, you want to know what? Then review for me to write the next chapter ;P**

**The phrase today is:** 'Nothing last forever, but how long is forever for those whose time doesn't count because they already lost it?'

**See ya next chapter!**


	8. Capitolo sette

**Hello again!**

**RaeRobFan: **Thanx,the plan in this is for you to wonder what is really happening

**CrazyInsomaniac: **1) What do you think? 2) Great, another hypothesis, could it be the right one? Thank you!

**Buttercup-babe: **Yeah, I know how bad the school _always_ is. Thanks, and don't worry for the end

**Adelaide: **Thank you!

**Serasvictoria666: **Hey, don't worry about anything. Thanks for review

**Ishii Sen Ling: **Hey, no problem; glad you're liking it

**Le cose non sono che cosa sembrano, ma quando non possiamo vederli come possiamo giudicarli?/ Le cose non sono che cosa sembrano, ma quando non possiamo vederli come possiamo giudicarli?**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the TT or the original book by Jenny Jones

**Where we left: **What Raven didn't know was that the 'bad things' had already started

**Now with the story…**

**Le cose non sono che cosa sembrano, ma quando non possiamo vederli come possiamo giudicarli?/ Le cose non sono che cosa sembrano, ma quando non possiamo vederli come possiamo giudicarli?**

**CHAPTER 7**

**: The Next Morning at Titans Tower:**

Raven opened her eyes and looked at the clock on her dresser, it read 7: 30 am; with a groan Raven rolled to the other side and rested on her bed for about five minutes more before put the covers aside to get up.

Raven went to her window and opened the curtains, the day was cloudy and the floor was damp letting her know that the last night there was a storm and, seeing the sky, she could tell the rain would continue for all the day. Sighing she looked down and noticed the tape that was covering the hole of her window was damped as the rest of the window.

"I'll ask Cyborg to change the window later" She said aloud as she changed the tape for a new one.

She headed to the bathroom to take a shower and think about what she would be doing that day, not that there was something interest- Wait a minute! _'I'll go to the Forest today and see if Speedy is there' _Raven thought to herself _'I'll have to leave Robin a note' _She groaned at that and stepped out of the shower.

Again the day was too cold to use her leotard so she used a black long sleeved shirt under her dark purple hooded jacket and a clean pair of black pants with her blue boots.

Walking into the living room she noted that, again, no one was up yet; Robin usually wakes up between 7 and 7:30 am to see the sunrise, but then again there was no sun that day so maybe, instead of the roof of the living room, he decided to stay in his room or was training at the gym. Raven sighed, that day they would be training with the new Cyborg's technology and that day she was also receiving her punishment, but it would start at noon so she had time

Raven took a piece of paper from the notebook the team had in the kitchen since yesterday and wrote a note, why the notebook you may ask? Robin made the team have that for leave notes saying were they would be and how long each time one or more members of the team went out without telling anyone.

After that she left the Tower heading for the forest, by now it was 8:28 am and she just hoped she could talk with Speedy some good time

**Le cose non sono che cosa sembrano, ma quando non possiamo vederli come possiamo giudicarli?/ Le cose non sono che cosa sembrano, ma quando non possiamo vederli come possiamo giudicarli?**

**: At the Forest:**

Raven levitated over the forest looking for any sign of Speedy or Smirks, but some of the lower trees had still some leaves didn't let her see the complete forest.

Finally she saw the big willow that, she had seen, was besides the lake; the place where she found Speedy the last day.

Lowering to the ground what she noted first was the fact that somehow there were more puppets than the last time she came, each one creepier than the last one. What she noted next was Smirks running around with a baseball, wagging his tail so fast that it was just a white and black blur. And what she noted at last was Speedy sitting on the willow's root that reached to the lake wearing the same brown leather jacket she saw him with before.

Speedy was holding a piece of wood on his left arm and on his right hand was the knife he showed her the last day. He was very concentrated on his job and his hand moved very quickly over the wood.

Raven observed him for ten seconds before Smirks noticed her presence and barked before take the ball with his snout and run towards her with his tail still wagging. The loud bark broke Speedy's concentration making him cut the wood in the wrong way

"Damn!" Speedy looked up to say Smirks to shut up but he saw Raven with his dog barking at her, the barks sounded muffled because the ball was still on his snout "Raven? Hey you came back"

Raven petted Smirks on the head and walked to the willow, the dog following close behind

"I told you I would, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but I thought maybe Robin got angry with you for come here yesterday" He said putting the knife on his belt and standing up letting Raven see he was sitting on a little red blanket, preventing him to get wet with the root

"Oh, he was angry all right. But today I left him a note like he wanted us to do so he can't do anything to me, and I'll be back before noon for the train" Raven said folding her arms over her chest

"Did he punish you with three extra hours training?" Speedy asked remembering the threat Robin gave Raven through the communicator

"Nope, I was already punished anyway. After the normal train Cyborg and I will be training two extra hours while Beast Boy will train three more hours"

"What about Starfire?" Speedy raised an eyebrow, by now Smirks got bored of hear the teens talking and went back to play by himself

"She didn't do anything against Robin's orders" Raven simply answered

"I think Robin is a bit too harsh with you" Speedy commented

"We have learned to live with it" Raven shrugged "How 'bout your team, do you ever train? I mean, you come here everyday"

"Bumblebee is very different to Robin. We can do whatever we want as long as we never fail for the missions, and she makes us some test to see how much we can do once each month" Speedy explained "If she is satisfied with our job then she lets us go but if she isn't then she starts with the training"

"And…" Raven asked

"Until now the only ones who needed to train for a month were Mas and Menos. Aqualad and I always get better and better"

"Aren't you modest?" Raven asked with a smirk, Speedy chuckled

"Hey, I'm just telling the truth"

"Is there any chance I can join Titans East?" Raven asked, part of her really meant that

"Bee wouldn't have any problem with that, I'm not sure about Robin though" Raven sighed

"He would never agree"

"Yeah, I guess he wouldn't" He sighed as well

Raven looked down and saw he was still holding the piece of wood he was working on earlier

"So, were you trying to make another puppet?"

Speedy looked down to the now useless piece of wood and sighed again

"'Try' is the right term, I just can't do it well" He threw the wood next to the willow not giving it another glance

"Don't worry" She said allowing herself to put a comforting hand on his shoulder "I'm sure you'll do it"

"Thanks" Speedy smiled grateful to her, Raven gave a small smile in response "I really hope so"

Then a strange sound made them look away from each other's eyes, no it wasn't anything bad it was just like a… reminder

"Did you have breakfast?" Speedy asked amused as Raven covered her stomach with her arms trying to quiet the grunt it was letting out, Raven blushed she didn't even get her tea that day

"No, I didn't eat anything before come here" Speedy laughed a bit making Raven glare at him, he stopped immediately

"Um, I have food over there" He said jerking his thumb to deeper in the forest "You want any? I haven't eaten yet either"

"Uh, sure" Raven answered

"Great, do you like sausages?"

"Yeah sure" Speedy took her hand for lead her inside the forest, Raven first instinct was to pull her hand back, but his hand was warm so he let him lead her

"C'mon boy!" Speedy called to Smirks who followed with the ball on the snout

**Le cose non sono che cosa sembrano, ma quando non possiamo vederli come possiamo giudicarli?/ Le cose non sono che cosa sembrano, ma quando non possiamo vederli come possiamo giudicarli?**

**: Back at the Tower:**

Robin walked into the Living room hoping to find at least Raven up, being the only one besides him who usually woke up before 9:00 am but he found no one _'Maybe she's meditating' _He thought as he walked to the Kitchen for some coffee.

He stopped at the counter when he noted the notebook they left the last night was open, and that someone had left a note there. Robin picked up the notebook a saw it was Raven hand script, the note read:

_Went to read in the forest, I'll be back before noon_

_Raven_

'_Again?' _Robin thought staring at the note _'This can't be normal, two days in a row with the forest' _Robin put the notebook down and looked out the window_ 'What can she be doing there?' _Robin looked again to the note and decided one thing

"There's just one way of know it" Robin walked towards the door, he would pay a visit to Raven at her 'new favorite place'

"Good morning friend!" Starfire greeted entering to the living room, Robin looked at her for a second with a small smile before walk away

"Morning Star, I'm going to the forest for a couple of hours"

"Is there any problem?" Asked she with concern making him look back at her

"No there isn't Star, I just have something to do" With that the door closed behind him leaving a confused Starfire in the room

"Um, ok?" She looked down and then back up. Her eyes fell on the notebook on the counter and she took it on her hands. After read the note she let a sad sigh escape "He still loves her

**Le cose non sono che cosa sembrano, ma quando non possiamo vederli come possiamo giudicarli?/ Le cose non sono che cosa sembrano, ma quando non possiamo vederli come possiamo giudicarli?**

**: Deep in the Forest:**

Speedy finally let go of Raven hand as they arrived to a large thin black metal sheet wall-like not taller than 2 meters. Speedy walked to the sheet and pushed it aside with some effort, but when it was open enough for the two of them to walk through it he let Raven go in first.

Inside there were more metal sheets around and one acting like a ceiling, it didn't cover all the place but it covered a part that reminded her to a bed room; there was a little night stand with three alcohol lamps, his arrows and bow were next to it, and in the furthest part of the 'room' was little portable bed with dark green sheets, under it was a suitcase _'Wait, a suitcase?'_

"You surely have your domain here" raven commented as she continued to look around, she saw a grill near the feet of the bed and two more lamps. At her left she saw his motorcycle. It was a brownish red with an 'S' like the one on his suit in the front part. Even with the bright color she liked how it looked, it reminded her to Red X's bike, the one he used when they raced Ding Dong Daddy.

She also noted some puppets around the place, some of them were hanging from the ceiling and the rest were in the floor, just one of them was on the bed. It was as big as a newly born and its head was on the pillow, it seemed comfortable.

"Well, since I'm here practically all day why don't make it comfortable?" Speedy said

"I understand" Raven nodded "If you don't mind me asking, what is in the suitcase under your bed?"

"Some books, I need to entertain myself in something more than just make puppets" Smirks entered and went direct to lay next to the bed still playing with the little ball. Speedy went to his motorcycle and looked back at Raven

"Here's my baby, do you like it?"

"Yeah, it looks cool" She admitted, Speedy smiled and opened the compartment that was under the leather sit and took a little bag from it

"Here's the breakfast" He announced, he walked to the grill as Smirks jumped of the floor ready to ask for his own breakfast

**Le cose non sono che cosa sembrano, ma quando non possiamo vederli come possiamo giudicarli?/ Le cose non sono che cosa sembrano, ma quando non possiamo vederli come possiamo giudicarli?**

**: Outside the Forest:**

Robin got off his motorbike and took his communicator, he opened it and searched for Raven's signal. He found it very deep in the forest

"Ok, so she's here but I'm almost completely sure that she isn't just reading" Robin said aloud while walking into the place. He soon arrived to the trellis Raven had trespassed before and he, instead of pass bellow, jumped over it.

He continued to walk in the place and saw the strange puppets hanging from the branch, even when he was known as 'the fearless leader of the Teen Titans' the dolls made a shiver ran down his spine as soon as he saw them. The expressionless face and the barbed wire on the joints didn't help at all.

Instinctively he pulled his jacket from the front like covering himself more before walk again.

Soon he arrived to the lake all of us know pretty well, the puppets were still there and they were as creepy as the first ones he saw. Again he looked for Raven's signal and found it even deeper in the Forest. Without another thought he walked further, walking between the trees at the other side of the lake

"Let's see what are you really doing Raven"

**Le cose non sono che cosa sembrano, ma quando non possiamo vederli come possiamo giudicarli?/ Le cose non sono che cosa sembrano, ma quando non possiamo vederli come possiamo giudicarli?**

**: Back with raven and Speedy:**

"Aren't you afraid of other animals coming here for the food?" Asked Raven raising an eyebrow as Speedy continuing preparing the sausages. Smirks was on the bed looking at the sausages hungrily, he was just waiting to eat

"While I'm out I left the food inside the bike, the smell never goes out the compartment. And while I'm here I can protect myself. Until now nothing has happened" He finished with a shrug without looking at her

"Then you're lucky, I felt many animal presences here" Raven said attempting to sit on the bed but stopping after see there the puppet "And those weren't from insects"

"Maybe they don't enter because of the walls"

"Maybe, anyway you know you have to be careful"

"Aw" Speedy said looking at her "I didn't know you cared so much" Raven rolled her eyes and looked around again

"You're my friend, why wouldn't I care?"

"I see" Speedy said turning back to the sausages "But don't worry, I know how to take care of my se- ow!"

"What?" Raven looked up at Speedy and saw him with his index finger in his mouth

"Nothing, I just touched the grill in the wrong place" He answered before suck his finger again

"Here, let me help you" She said trying to take his hand but he backed away

"No, I told you I can take care of myself and I'm going to show you that I meant it"

"I can heal that in just five seconds you know? Now give me your hand" Raven said walking towards him, Speedy continued to walk away

"I have the things I need to do it in my suitcase"

"But it will take more time, let me heal it"

"No"

"Let me"

"No"

"Enough" Raven used her powers to pull Speedy near her and took his hand on hers

"Hey, that's not fair" Speedy said

"Just shut up" Raven said letting his body go but still holding his hand, soon her hands were glowing blue.

The pain on Speedy's hand soon disappeared and he breathed in relief, just then he looked up to her eyes and stayed staring at them, even when her eyes were looking down in concentration he never mover his gaze

"There, isn't it better?" Raven looked up and saw that Speedy was looking her intently, she tried to find his eyes under his mask and didn't note how close they really were. They stayed there in silence until…

"Raven?... Speedy?"

**Le cose non sono che cosa sembrano, ma quando non possiamo vederli come possiamo giudicarli?/ Le cose non sono che cosa sembrano, ma quando non possiamo vederli come possiamo giudicarli?**

**Ok, I'll left it there do you hate me?**

**Anyway, I'll leave the pool another week just because I feel like it –even if no one else votes- so next week I'll put the other.**

**Poor Star don't you think? But don't worry, I'm not that cold hearted and you'll see that but not now.**

**Continue with your hypotheses because maybe one of them would be the correct one. But for now please review**

**The phrase says:** 'Things aren't what they seem, but when we can't see them how can we judge them?'


	9. Capitolo otto

**OK, hello! **

**Serasvictoria666: **Thank you! Hey don't worry, if you have hypotheses maybe one of them could be the right one, you never know

**Adelaide: **Thanks!

**Ishii Sen Ling: **Maybe she will, maybe not but we'll have to wait a little more…

**Zarola: **Thanks, maybe I should start writing philosophies… maybe not

**Thanx for the reviews**

**Ci è solo unidirezionale avere una vita eterna, ed è la morte/Ci è solo unidirezionale avere una vita eterna, ed è la morte**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the TT or the original book

**Where we left: **Raven looked up and saw that Speedy was looking her intently, she tried to find his eyes under his mask and didn't note how close they really were. They stayed there in silence until…

"Raven?... Speedy?"

**Now with the story…**

**Ci è solo unidirezionale avere una vita eterna, ed è la morte/Ci è solo unidirezionale avere una vita eterna ed, è la morte**

**CHAPTER 8**

"Robin?" Raven asked surprised looking up at her leader standing just in front the wall she had entered through, the surprise was so that a sausage went flying in the air by her powers and Smirks took his chance to catch it and eat. Speedy looked at Raven and whispered a bit angry as he let go of her hand

"You told him?"

"No, I didn't" She whispered back

"Speedy what are you doing here? Was he the reason for you to come here?" The last question was directed to Raven as he approached to them. For some strange reason Smirks didn't like Robin at the moment so he jumped in front Speedy and Raven and began to growl; Robin stopped right there, he knew he could control the dog but he didn't want to hurt an animal if it wasn't necessary.

Speedy understood, for the question, that Robin didn't know he has been going there so he looked at Raven telling her with his expression that he was really sorry. Raven didn't answer but understood what Speedy tried to tell her so he decided to face Robin

"What are you doing here Robin?" Asked Raven glaring at him

"Fist I want answers" Robin looked at Speedy and continued "How long have you been coming here that you already have a room?"

"None of your business" Speedy answered in a tone that he had never used, a very cold and angry tone that no one have ever thought he would use considering how he always acted. The boy looked at Smirks growling and petted him as he ordered "Stay"

The red haired teen walked to the grill and turned it off preventing the sausages to get even more burned or an accident to happen in the forest.

Robin recovered from the surprise of Speedy's tone and spoke again

"If a friend and a Titan is living in a forest that isn't even in his own city then is my business"

"As a friend you have to respect my decisions and I'm not part of your team so you can't tell me what I can or can't do" Speedy turned to Robin and walked right in front of him, the dog stopped growling and sat in front Raven who stayed looking at the argument, she knew better than interrupt something like this

"Does Bumblebee know about this?"

"Yes she does"

"And she let you come here when your responsibility is in Steel city?" Robin asked exasperated

"Yes" Speedy stayed calm but you could tell he was loosing his temper

"What? As a leader she shouldn't let you come here just like that, what is she thinking?" Robin was now more talking to himself than to Speedy

"She works in a different way than you do; she knows how to treat us. Though I can't say the same about you"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Asked Robin in a menacing tone

"Nothing, I just suggest you not to treat your teammates like kids with threats and punishments when they know how to take care of themselves and they aren't stupid to do something dangerous or anything" Speedy said "You know you're acting like you don't trust them and they can't trust you either in return"

"I just want to protect them" Now Robin sounded like he was thinking on it

"Why don't you discus what 'protect' means for all of you and try to put the rules together?" Asked Speedy now relaxing. Robin was about to yell an answer but found that he couldn't find anything to yell at him, he was right and robin knew it

"I guess it can be done" Robin said looking down

Raven was really surprised, how could Speedy control Robin so easy? No one in the team could do that, maybe herself or Starfire some times but never one of the boys; but now Speedy arrived from Steel city and calmed Robin like a father to his child.

"I think your team would like that" Speedy nodded and the looked back at Raven walking towards her "I'm sorry"

"Don't worry, I understand" Raven assured softly before turn back to Robin "Robin, why did you follow me?"

"It resulted strange to me that you would like to come here after what happened when Mumbo fist escaped" Robin replied truthfully looking her in the eye "I just wanted to know what made you change your mind, I knew you were hiding something but I came here instead of ask you… you wouldn't have told me anyway"

"You didn't trust me, why would I trust you?"

"I know that, and I'm sorry ok?" Robin said "I promise to trust you more, friends?" He finished offering his hand for her to shake but she just looked at his hand and then back at his eyes

"Maybe" She echoed from the last time he asked her the same and then looked back away.

Speedy has been looking the conversation carefully, he couldn't help but notice that their relation was cold in a way, totally different as how they acted when they were dating

Robin sighed and then noticed the puppets all around the place

"What's with all those puppets here?"

"I made them" Speedy answered sitting on his bed with the sausages –or the ones that weren't burned- and set the plate there before take the puppet that was lying there and look at it "But I can't make them look good"

"I can see it" Robin muttered earning a punch on the arm from Raven before she walked to sit next to Speedy

"You can't do it yet, but you yourself said that you can get better with time" Speedy looked at her and smiled

"Yeah, I guess so" Raven gave a little smile and Robin knew he had to interrupt

"Soooo… what were you planning to do?"

"We were going to get breakfast" Speedy answered giving Smirks another sausage, Robin hadn't moved from his last spot even after the rest did

"Oh, ok" Robin answered giving another look around the place and noticing the motorbike "A new motorbike?"

"Yeah, made it with my own hands" Speedy nodded, not as proud as he had done with Raven but at least politely

"Wow, how long it took you for make this?"

"A few months"

"What do you do every time Steel city has an emergency?"

"With that I can get there in ten minutes or less" Speedy said giving a bite to a sausage, Raven was also eating

"That's fast, how did you do it?"

"It's a secret and I won't tell you, I had to investigate a lot for create my own combustible" Now Speedy sounded like he was teasing the spiky haired boy

"Ok, then I'll have to investigate on my own"

"Can't you accept for this time that someone did something that you don't?" Raven asked to her leader, Speedy smirked at this

"I didn't mean that" Robin answered

"Whatever" Raven rolled her eyes and continued eating

"Raven we have to go back to the tower" Robin said after a moment

"But we have practically two hours before the training" Raven said no wanting to go back to the Tower yet

"The rest probably want us to take breakfast with them" Robin tried to give an excuse

"I already had breakfast" Raven said showing the empty plate to Robin who frowned

"Still, I don't have anything else to do before the training" Raven continued, it was clear she wasn't going to accept. Robin was about to give up when he remembered something

"It's your turn to do dishes"

"But…" Raven trailed off, yeah it was her turn to do dishes and she couldn't escape of that so she sighed defeated "All right"

"Ok, Speedy I just hope you not to leave your Titan duties. I have to be honest and tell you that I'm not ok with this but I guess that's for you and your team to decide"

"Yeah, my team and I will decide this" Speedy nodded standing up at the same time Raven did

"Let's go Raven" Robin said starting to walk

"Give me a second, I have something to ask Speedy" Robin stopped and turned to them but Raven gave him a glare "Alone"

"Oh, um ok" Robin walked away unsure, he didn't like the idea of leave Raven with Speedy alone but he trusted Raven and if he wanted her to trust him he had to start to show it "I'll wait out there"

"Smirks" Speedy called his dog and in an instant the mutt was at his side "Speak" Smirks started to bark loud, Speedy smiled and indicated the dog "Continue" and so Smirks continued barking

"Clever" Raven smirked knowing perfectly that robin was trying to listen to their conversation –which he really was-

"Thanks, so what do you want to know?"

"You didn't deny anything when Robin said you were living here, so tell me _are_ you living here?"

"Not exactly, but I do stay most part of the day here" Speedy answered "So I practically live here"

"But you still go back to your home don't you?"

"Yeah sure I do" Speedy reassured smiling

"Ok then, I'll go now, see you soon" Raven said and waved walking away and petting Smirks once on his head

"Sure" Speedy waved back "I'll be waiting"

Smirks stopped barking and let his snout line form the smirk he always had, Speedy took out his knife and moved to his bed

**Ci è solo unidirezionale avere una vita eterna, ed è la morte/Ci è solo unidirezionale avere una vita eterna, ed è la morte**

**: Just outside the wall:**

"Let's go now Robin" Raven said finding Robin with his ear against the metal, he quickly moved, the barks prevented him to listen anything, even her footsteps

"Yeah, yeah sure let's go"

They went through the forest in complete silence, Robin looked at Raven once a while but she kept looking forward not meeting his gaze. Both of them also noticed the puppet and maybe they just had paranoia but they could swear the dolls were looking at them with those empty eyes of them.

After they passed the lake and jumped –or levitated- over the trellis near the edge of the forest and walked towards Robin's motorbike

"Want a ride?" Asked Robin to Raven

"No thanks, I can go there by myself" Raven levitated some centimeters from the ground to prove this

Robin shrugged and put his helmet on, he revved up and started his way with Raven floating above him

**Ci è solo unidirezionale avere una vita eterna, ed è la morte/Ci è solo unidirezionale avere una vita eterna, ed è la morte**

**: At the Tower:**

"Beast Boy, get your junk out of the stove!!!"

"This isn't 'junk' Cyborg, you should try some of my tofu at least once!!!"

"I ain't eating that thing, the real food is better!!!"

"Dude, eat meat is low for everyone!!!"

"Please friends, we must not fight" Starfire said separating the boys before this became a real fight "We all shall participate in the early meal like we always do"

"It's time for this tin can to learn eat something that never had pulse" Beast Boy yelled pointing at Cyborg

"Why don't you become a real man and eat some meat?" Cyborg retorted yelling as well

"I _am_ a real man!" BB said offended

"You are not" Cyborg answered

"Am too!"

"Are not!"

"Am too!"

"Are not!"

"Something is burning!" They heard a new voice say, looking at the stove both fighters noticed that, indeed, something was making the place fill with smoke

"Aahhaa! My tofu!" Beast Boy yelled running to the stove and turning it off "So not cool!"

"Oh yeah! Now I can prepare my bacon!" Cyborg yelled happy

"Thank you for the advertisement Robin, you saved our home of get burned" Starfire said smiling at Robin and Raven who stayed in the doorway

"No prob, but if you weren't arguing all the time you would have noticed" Robin said waling to the counter, Raven stayed in the doorway so robin looked back at her "You coming?"

"In a minute, I have to go to my room for a book" With that Raven walked out to her room

"So, how was the nature hike?" Asked Cyborg fixing some bacon while Beast Boy put away the uneatable tofu

"I just found out that Speedy is living in the forest" Robin answered

"Is he no longer living with the Titans East?" Asked Starfire

"Well, I'm not sure if he's _living_ there but he has a room with a bed, a night stand, a grill and a suitcase so at least he stays there during the day, and about the night, I have no idea"

"Is that why Raven went to the forest everyday?" Asked Beast Boy entering to the conversation

"I guess, Raven knew he was there but didn't tell us"

"Maybe Speedy didn't want anyone to know he was there" Cyborg reasoned

"But why?" Robin said exasperated

"Does Bee know about this?" Asked Cyborg taking the bacon from the stove

"Yeah, she allowed Speedy to come here"

"Well at least he has permission" Cyborg commented

"Speedy has also taken some kind of liking for the puppets, the forest in invaded by them and he told me he had made them"

"So, that's why the puppets were there" Cyborg muttered to himself, Beast Boy was thinking the same

"What did you say?" Robin asked raising an eyebrow

"Nothing" Cyborg answered with a smile "Want some bacon?"

"Yeah" Robin knew Cyborg was hiding something but he will talk with it later

**Ci è solo unidirezionale avere una vita eterna, ed è la morte/Ci è solo unidirezionale avere una vita eterna, ed è la morte**

**: In Raven's room:**

Raven walked to her room searching for her newest book, she was four chapters from the end and wanted to finish it soon.

Entering there once again a breeze touched her skin, looking at the window she saw the curtain moving. Lifting the curtain she discovered two things, first that the tape that was covering her window hole was now lying on the floor; and second that the hole was now bigger and there were no crystals on the floor so she couldn't repair the window.

"How?" Raven asked aloud "This can't happen just like that"

She made the tape float to her again and covered the new hole, now it was as big as her head

"I'll ask Cyborg to repair this as soon as he can" Raven said, she walked to her bed and took the book she came for before go back to the main room

Again she didn't notice that her movements were being watched very closely

**Ci è solo unidirezionale avere una vita eterna, ed è la morte/Ci è solo unidirezionale avere una vita eterna, ed è la morte**

**Someone finally got Robin to understand, and why Speedy acted so strange? Anyway, what do you think that is happening? And what do you think that will happen?**

**Now, with the new pool. Again you'll decide the new couples, there are two groups but you can pair anyone with anyone, though I must tell you that if you pair group 1 with group 2 you'll suffer a bit but I promise a happy ending. Oh and the stares here and Robin Raven and Red X**

**Group 1: Cyborg, Beast Boy, Starfire, Terra, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Jericho**

**Group 2: Speedy, Bumblebee, Jinx, Blackfire, Argent, Hot Spot, Kid Wykkyd**

**You can vote now.**

**The phrase says:** There's just one way to have an eternal life, and it's the death


	10. Capitolo nove

**Hi! Guess what, today I have a day off and decided to update!**

**Buttercup-babe: **I'm not sure if I can, maybe I can think about a story with them later; it's just that I kinda have the story planned, but if you want I can think of a new story with those four character like the stars, how about that? And thanks for the votes

**Serasvictoria666: **There will plenty moments when Raven and Speedy will be alone, we just have to continue with this FF

**Adelaide (anon); **Thanx!

**Ishii Sen Ling: **Thank you, it just happens that I have time right now

**Mizuki Ai: **Thanks for voting, and if you think Robin was accusing Speedy at the end, then you haven't seen anything yet

**Thanks for the reviews guys!**

**Vengono vederli, vengono qui, stanno attendendo per vedere quando andremo con loro**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the TT or the original book

**Where we left: **Again Raven didn't notice that her movements were being watched very closely

**Now with the story…**

**Vengono vederli, vengono qui, stanno attendendo per vedere quando andremo con loro**

**CHAPTER 9**

**: A few hours later in Titans Tower:**

Three and a half in the afternoon and Raven is drinking some tea after trained with the new Cyborg's system and suffer her punishment at the gym along with Cyborg and Beast Boy, who was still in there with Robin watching him closely; Cyborg was currently recharging his battery and Starfire was sitting on the couch watching a Nachos Documental, Raven wondered why the hell would someone like to make a documental about nachos.

Anyway, during the training Robin had tried to talk with her, mainly about what she knew about Speedy living in that forest and why she was being so indifferent with him while she seemed to spend more time with Speedy. Raven ignored all of his questions and continued to training with her other two friends.

She wondered how would Beast Boy finish after the training, she herself was exhausted so she decided to take a relaxing bath as soon as she left the gym -she didn't mind bath twice in a day, sometimes she would have to shower even five times in a day after the missions sometimes the team had- so she went to the bathroom and stayed in the tub for about twenty minutes, if she stayed longer then she would never go out, before change in her uniform –being that the Tower was warm- and prepare herself a cup of tea

And that's where we started

The door of the main room opened and Cyborg enterer through it

"Didn't you have to recharge your battery?" Asked Raven raising an eyebrow, Starfire was so fascinated with the show she was watching that didn't notice Cyborg entering to the room

"Yeah, but it was just for it to be at it's 100 percent so it ain't took so long" Raven nodded and continued sipping her tea "So, Robin told us about Speedy" In that instant Raven spilled her tea in surprise

"What?" She managed to choke as Cyborg patted her on the back

"He told us Speedy was living in the forest, or so it seemed, and also that he was the one who made those puppets you talked to me 'bout"

"Yeah" Raven answered after regaining her composure "He made them and has been using the branches like shelves"

"Why you didn't tell us Rae?"

"Because he told me not to do it" Raven answered truthfully "And I just did as he asked me to"

"Why is he coming here?" Cyborg started the interrogatory before Robin could, he knew the leader would only end yelling at Raven because she won't give him the answers he wanted

"He just told me that he liked the place and that's why he has been coming… Do you remember the dog we saw the other day?" Cyborg nodded "It's Speedy's new pet"

"Really?" Cyborg asked, Raven nodded "That's why he was so healthy, Speedy was taking care of him"

"Yeah, his name is Smirks and he's really smart, Speedy has been training him pretty well"

"Good, at least we won't have to deal with bird boy about have a new pet" Cyborg laughed and Raven smiled, then she remembered something

"Cyborg, my window is broken and I was hopping that you could change it" Cyborg stopped laughing and raised an eyebrow to the girl

"What do you mean that it broke?"

"Yeah, yesterday after the movie when I entered to my room I felt a strange breeze and discovered that my window was broken; I didn't see the parts of the glass on the floor so I couldn't repair it and I covered the hole with some tape" Raven explained "And when I came back from the forest I saw the tape lying on the floor and the hole was now bigger, the pieces of crystal were no where to be seen"

"Are you sure? I mean no one enters never to your room so the window must have been broken from outside the Tower, the crystals have to be on your floor"

"I'm telling you there are no crystals, I know that's something strange but it's the truth" Raven answered a bit angry that Cyborg didn't trust her

"OK, don't get mad at me, I'll buy a new crystal and we can repair it deal?"

"Fine, but do it as soon as you can, I haven't noticed how cold my room actually was" Raven admitted

"You chose that room so it's your fault" Cyborg tried to play with Raven "I told you it was the coldest place in the Tower"

"I know but it's also the darker place of the tower and I like the dark" Raven sighed with a little grin

"Anyway, if you want your window done soon I better get going, I have already the measures so I think it won't take too long"

"Thanks" Raven said

"Oh, my friend you have come back from your recharging!" Starfire finally took her attention away from the TV and saw Cyborg sitting at the counter with Raven, instantly she flew towards him and started to jump up and down "How are you feeling after the punishment Robin assigned you?"

"Well, now I'm ok Star" Cyborg answered smiling at her friends "Right now I'm goin' out for a new window, anyone wanna come along?"

"Why do you need to obtain a new window?" Asked Starfire very curious at the fact of buying a new window

"My window is broken because I accidentally hit it with a book" Raven lied no wanting to worry her friend

"Did you not meditate correctly?" Asked Starfire believing the lie

"No, but I'm ok now" Raven finished with a little smile

"All right, I shall accompany you for the new window friend Cyborg" Starfire said smiling brightly

"Ok Star, you comin' dark girl?" Cyborg asked standing up

"No, I'll stay here. Besides, it's raining outside" Raven pointed to the window and the other two Titans saw the rain drops hitting softly the window, Cyborg groaned

"Oh man, now I'll have to wash my baby when we come back"

"Yeah, and the tape on my window will get wet and so will my floor if you don't hurry up" Raven say very monotone

"I heard, I'm going now, let's go Star" Cyborg called exiting from the main room, Starfire floating behind him

Raven sighed and stayed there finishing her now almost cold tea, not that shi noticed, her mind was occupied.

She started to think about Speedy in the forest, the only thing that was covering him from get wet was a metal sheet; maybe he was feeling cold, a jacket and some blankets and alcohol lamps wouldn't be enough to be warm when the spaces with nature just like forests were colder than the rest.

'_Perhaps he would come to the Tower for a while, just while it's raining'_ Raven thought hopefully not wanting Speedy to get sick _'Since when am I so worried about him?'_

Shaking her head she took her empty cup and put it in the sink, she would clean it later but now she wanted to see how Speedy was doing

Before she could walk to the door it opened and a very tired Beast Boy entered

"Dude, I didn't know Robin would be so cruel with someone" He complied "I don't think even Slade suffered what I just did"

"Robin was too hard?" Raven more stated than asked

"Yeah" BB said slumping on a chair "I hate exercise"

"Think about it this way" Raven started looking at him "With enough training those bones of yours will get some muscle"

"Hey, I have muscles!" BB said standing up straight "It's just that they almost can't be seen with black"

"Yeah right" Raven said sarcastically "See you later"

"Where are you going?" Asked the boy as Raven walked to the door, she turned around with her face expressionless

"You know Speedy is in the forest, I'm going to see if he's alright"

"Can I go?" Asked Beast Boy standing up

"Weren't you almost falling asleep when you entered?" Raven raised an eyebrow, Beast Boy shrugged

"Robin said Speedy made those creepy puppets you were scared about and so I want to see them"

"How do you know about those puppets?" Raven said suspiciously

Beast Boy closed his mouth in that instant, he forgot that Raven didn't know he had been eavesdropping the conversation she had with Cyborg, the only thing he managed at that moment was laugh nervously

"Heh, heh, I uh… heh"

"Beast Boy" Raven said, her eyes starting to glow white as she floated from the floor

"No wait!" BB exclaimed putting his hands in front of him trying to stop Raven "I saw you worried and wanted to know what was happenin' so I heard your conversation and helped you the other day for you could get away without Robin noticing"

"Oh" Raven lowered herself to the ground, her eyes became her usual purple "So that's why you took Robin's paper the other day"

"Yup" The changeling nodded proud "So, can I go?"

"Ok" Raven sighed "But don't make anything stupid… and put on a jacket or something for the rain and the cold, I'm going to my room for something and catch with you at the entrance door, ok?"

"Yeah, should we leave a note to Robin?" Asked BB remembering the rules

"I guess, write that Cyborg and Star went to out to buy a new window too"

"A new window?" BB raised an eyebrow while taking the notebook

"I broke mine by accident and the crystals feel to the shore so I couldn't repair it" Raven answered quickly before go to her room to change

Beat Boy looked at the door for a moment before shrug and write the note, after that he ran towards his room for his jacket, if he could find it that's it

**Vengono vederli, vengono qui, stanno attendendo per vedere quando andremo con loro**

**: At Raven's Room:**

Raven entered in her room and went immediately to her wardrobe looking for her black pants and blue hooded jacket, she took off her clack and put on the pants and jacket, then she changed her boots for those with synthetic lamb skin inside for keep her feet warm.

After that she went to her vanity and opened a drawer where her gloves were, she felt the afternoon very cold and the rain didn't help at all.

All of sudden she heard a loud thump on the floor, she tensed but didn't turn around. Then she heard soft footsteps in her room, still she didn't turn around and didn't dare to see through the big mirror that was hanging on the wall over her vanity; the footsteps became faster and louder and she knew that they were coming towards her.

With all her courage she finally turned around she saw nothing, the fear was still there but she looked frantically around the room looking for something suspicious from her spot, still nothing, the only sound that she could hear were her fast breaths and the rain drops hitting her window. When she looked at her window she saw the curtain moving again

Walking to the window Raven saw the tape lying on the ground damped, the rain entering through the hole the window had. Raven cocked her head to the side curious about it but she made once again the tape levitate from her drawer to her hand, she put the tape over the hole preventing more water to enter to her room.

Lowering her gaze a bit more she noticed something that she hadn't seen before and gasped softly; on the floor was something like a trail, a water trail. She looked closer but the spots didn't have form, it weren't feet but neither were claws, the water made impossible to who or what had left that trail, and the dim light that her ceiling lamp was emitting wasn't helping either.

Following the trail she saw it went form her window to the middle of her room and then returned to her bed, when it ended.

Raven gulped and stood up throwing he tape to her bed, where it landed at the very edge. She walked to her bed and crawled to her palms and knees for she could see in the little space between her bed and the floor. With a deep breathe she bent down and looked in.

Just as her eyes looked in she felt something hit her ankle and a loud sound was heard accompanied by a bright light that illuminated her whole room. Raven screamed and turned so quickly that she ended falling on her butt with her back hitting the edge of her bed.

Looking through the space she had left open of the window when she put the new tape to the hole she saw a new lighting illuminate her dark room and the thunder sounding loudly. Breathing heavily Raven looked down to see the tape on the floor near to her, that was what she felt hit her feet.

Sighing in relief she took the tape and put it again on her bed. She put on her gloves as she walked out her room, the storm was getting worse and she needed to see if Speedy was in the forest and be sure he was doing well.

**Vengono vederli, vengono qui, stanno attendendo per vedere quando andremo con loro**

**: Near the Forest:**

Raven had found Beast Boy at the door when she arrived, he saw her agitated but she said that she had used the stairs until she get tired and used the elevator. Beast Boy continued curious and had asked her why she didn't levitate, she lied saying that she had forgotten but he believe it, she asked him to don't push it further and he complimented, maybe later he could ask again

Raven and Beast Boy were flying over the forest now –BB in eagle form-, Raven used her powers to put a shield over herself and Beast Boy for they couldn't get wet, they were willing to see if their friend was alright. Soon they found the metal sheets Speedy used to form his camping place –if you could call it that- and lowered themselves entering through the space that wasn't covered at all.

When they landed they saw Speedy lying under the covers of his bed with his jacket on, reading a book with Smirks at his side also under the covers, just its head was visible resting on Speedy's chest. All the lamps were on and so was the grill, which was now at the side of the bed instead of the feet of it, the lamps were hanging from a rope that went from one of the branches that were supporting the ceiling to another one.

Both teens walked inside under the ceiling silently, Smirks' ears however caught the sound of their footsteps and woke up, alerting Speedy. The arched lowered his book ready for any danger when he saw both Titans, he sat up and Smirks jumped off the bed to greet both teenagers.

Beast Boy smiled as the dog ran towards them and started to jump around them, BB took his eyes off the dog top look around the place; he saw many puppets lying on the ground and some others hanging from some branches, he felt a shiver run down his spine at the sight of it, no wonder why Raven was scared of them.

Raven on the other hand was surprised at how Smirks acted towards Beast Boy, when Robin first arrived the dog started to growl, but with the green changeling the dog seemed happy, just like he had done with Cyborg; maybe the dog sensed the hostility coming form Robin and that was why he didn't liked Robin at first.

Speedy looked at two boys, he was feeling confused to see Beast Boy there, what was going on?

"Beast Boy, Raven" He called making both titans look at him "What are you doing here?"

"Robin told us you were here and Raven wanted to see if you were ok, you know, with the storm and everything" Beast Boy explained petting Smirks

"You were worried?" Asked Speedy raising an eyebrow to Raven as his mouth formed a smirk that could be compared to the one of his dog

"Yes, you're my friend, why wouldn't I be worried?" Raven answered in her monotone, for some reason she felt a light blush on her cheeks but her hood hid it from the boys

"Well, you don't have to worry, I told you I could take care of myself" Speedy assured standing up and walking towards them

"I know, but with this storm I thought you may have been cold or something, and so I wanted to ask you if you wish to come to the Tower for a while, at least until the storm stops" Raven offered a bit nervous

"I think that I'll stay here"

"Aw, c'mon dude" BB entered again to the conversation "We can drink some hot chocolate, or play videogames, or maybe we could play Robin a prank"

"For your punishment?" Asked Speedy to the green boy

"Yeah, it was so no fair" BB said crossing his arms over his chest

"Will you come then?" Asked Raven to the red haired boy

"I'm not sure, Robin won't like this, you saw how he acted when he saw me here"

"I don't care what Robin says" Raven replied "Besides he didn't like the idea of seeing you in the forest, but I don't find something wrong with you being in the Tower"

"Ok, but only if I can take Smirks with me" Speedy said motioning the dog sitting at his side

"Of course, I wouldn't leave him here alone" Raven smiled

"Soooo, will you teleport us there or what?" Asked Speedy

"No" Raven shook her head "It takes a lot of energy, that's why I didn't teleport Beast Boy and I before"

"Then I think we have to do it my way" Speedy answered

"What do you have in mind?" Raven asked raising an eyebrow

**Vengono vederli, vengono qui, stanno attendendo per vedere quando andremo con loro**

**: Five minutes later:**

Raven was seeing her life before her eyes passing fast, all her memories were there, she knew she was going to die… Ok, if she continued to hold Speedy's waist as tight like she was doing right now the one dieing will probably be him, but that was the only way she felt safe when he was driving at 100 KM/H on damped floor under the still very strong storm

Speedy, Beast Boy and Smirks had convinced her to ride the motorcycle for they could return to the tower, she didn't remember how Speedy had convinced her but Smirks and her teammate had made it by using those sad puppy eyes BB always used, apparently the titan talked to Smirks and now the power of those eyes was two times stronger

She opened her eyes, which she have closed at some moment without her noticing, and looked forward; her black shield was over the bike not letting the water touch it from above, Smirks was between Speedy and the handle –surprisingly there was enough space for the three of them to bee there and still be comfortable- and for BB, he was on Speedy's shoulder like a squirrel enjoying the trip.

Beast Boy loved the speed, and now he was enjoying this –though it would be better if he was the one driving-. He had always wanted a moped, but he only got… well you'll see that later. Speedy was a great driver, he had to admit that, and he was driving more carefully that Robin does, BB was sure that if a villain appeared in front of them he wouldn't be stu… _bborn _enough to follow him under the rain 'till the bridge of the city and jump a distance that he knew he wouldn't reach.

Looking over his shoulder he saw Raven with her eyes closed and strongly holding Speedy's waist for dear life, at the beginning she had been holding the back of his jacket but now it seemed that speedy wasn't something Raven liked. BB turned around and put a claw on Raven's cheek, she opened her eyes and saw him curiously, he smiled reassuring and then went pack to his position, his actions seemed to work because Raven's hold loosened and Speedy seemed to breathe easier.

**Vengono vederli, vengono qui, stanno attendendo per vedere quando andremo con loro**

**: When they arrived to the Titans Tower:**

Speedy stopped and turned off his motorbike letting Smirks go, BB got off his shoulder and morphed back to human form. But he couldn't get off his own bike, Raven had loosened her hold sometime during the trip, but when he turned a corner she held even tighter; and now, apparently, she didn't notice that the ride was over.

"Um… Raven?" Asked Speedy making her open her eyes "We're here"

Raven looked around and surprised when she saw that she was inside that garage of the Titans Tower still holding Speedy's waist. She blushed and quickly let Speedy go

"Sorry" She mumbled trying to get off the motorbike, unfortunately she didn't moved correctly and her foot tripped with the sit, she was about to fall face first when two strong arms circled her waist and stopped the fall. Looking up she came face to face with the masked archer, she tried again to find his eyes under his mask but she didn't have time to do it because Smirks started to growl again

Both teens looked at Smirks and then forward, who was there if not Robin with his arms crossed over his chest looking very serious

"I see we have a guest"

**Vengono vederli, vengono qui, stanno attendendo per vedere quando andremo con loro**

**Ok, the episode is done and now you just have to review and tell me your thoughts and so I can write another chapter, something like 'An episode for your thoughts' is that fair?**

**Thanks for your votes, if you haven't voted yet you can do it now, if you want to know more about my upcoming stories you can go to check my profile and read about them.**

**The phrase says: **'They come to see us, they come here, they're waiting to see when we'll go with them'

**See ya! **


	11. Capitolo dieci

**Hi!**

**Mizuki Ai: **Thanx, yeah he really does but you haven't seen anything

**Ishii Sen Ling: **Thank you, I liked the motorbike part too

**Buttercup-babe: **Ok then, glad you liked the chapter

**Adelaide: **Thanx for the review and I'm really grateful that you're following this being an anon reviewer

**Serasvictoria666: **Speedy and Raven will be together more often alright, and I assure you Robin won't be happy at all about it

**RaeRobFan: **And I thought _I_ was lazy, lol. Thanx, it added some horror, but there will be happening even more things, overall reaching almost the end (smirks)

**Thank you all for the reviews guys!**

**Che cosa è vita se non un tempo comune puro che un giorno dovremo dare indietro, anche quando alcuni mai desiderio per farlo**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the TT or the original book

**Where we left: **Raven and Speedy looked at Smirks and then forward, who was there if not Robin with his arms crossed over his chest looking very serious

"I see we have a guest"

**Now with the story…**

**Che cosa è vita se non un tempo comune puro che un giorno dovremo dare indietro, anche quando alcuni mai desiderio per farlo**

**CHAPTER 10**

Raven moved quickly away from Speedy, not knowing exactly why but still doing it, and stood up straight blushing again putting immediately her hood on. Seeing this Beast Boy decided to answer his leader

"Yep, knowing that Speedy was in the forest we decided to invite him to come here while the storm passed"

"Why was in the forest under a storm like this one?" Asked the Boy Wonder to his 'clone' raising an eyebrow, his arms still folded over his chest completely ignoring Smirk's growls

"I just didn't feel like going back to Steel City at the moment" Speedy answered, his voice the same tone that Robin's

"So you waited to see if my team felt pity enough for you to bring you here" Robin stated

"No, Raven and Beast Boy arrived to the forest suddenly and asked me if I wanted to come" Speedy answered seeming ready to punch Robin

"He accepted and now we wish to get warm after being out for quite a while" Raven finished finding her brave side inside her

Robin looked between the three of the titans before him and sighed defeated, he had accepted that what Speedy did wasn't his problem, however he still was wondering the reason for Raven to be so worried about the archer, and now seemed that his team started to be on her side. Then again, it wasn't a problem if Speedy was a friend, why would it be? _'Because Raven and Speedy are somewhat friendlier than before'_

"All right" He finally said "Let's go to the main room" Then Robin turned to the dog, it wasn't growling anymore but still didn't seem to trust the leader "And keep the dog away from me, it seem that he wants to bite me"

"He would be doing us a favor" Speedy mumbled for no one could hear but Raven heard and couldn't help but smirk

"Dude, it isn't Smirk's fault" Beast Boy yelled walking behind the Boy Wonder "You're hostile and the animals can feel it, you can't blame him and besides…"

Beast Boy's voice disappeared as soon as he was out the room leaving Raven, Speedy and Smirks alone. The mutt started to look around the garage interested as soon as he felt the things calmer and started to sniff all over the room.

Speedy looked at Raven as she lowered her hood

"I guess he didn't take this as you thought he would"

"Actually, he took this better than I have thought" Raven said seriously, she had thought that, for that moment, Robin would have already kicked her out the team and the Tower along with Beast Boy and Speedy

"Really?" Speedy asked amused, Raven nodded "Then I feel flattered"

"You should… c'mon let's get warm" Raven jerked her head to the elevator and both of them entered followed by Smirks, once inside Raven pushed the button of the correct floor to the common room. The whole travel was quiet saving for Smirks' sounds of sniffing around the elevator

**Che cosa è vita se non un tempo comune puro che un giorno dovremo dare indietro, anche quando alcuni mai desiderio per farlo**

**: At the Main Room:**

"… And the animals have to be respected you know that?"

"Beast Boy"

"… The humans are the ones who…"

"Beast Boy"

"Some kill animals just like a sport!"

"Beast Boy!"

"How can someone be so cruel to…?"

"BEAST BOY!"

"Ow dude, you don't have to yell, I'm right in front of you"

"Oh, I'm so sorry" Robin replied with sarcasm dripping in each word

"You're forgiven" BB grinned earning a glare from Robin "So what'd you want to say me?"

"Just that you could already stop and don't waste more your breath"

"I don't mind talking about something I actually know about" BB said proud that he had something interesting to talk about

"Beast Boy, I knew everything you just told since long ago, thank you very much" Robin said slowly like talking to a little child

"Then, what can you tell me about it?"

"I'm not in the mood ok?" Sighed the leader

"Is there something wrong Rob?" The changeling sounded a bit concerned

"Nothing, just that… why did Cyborg and Starfire went to buy a new window?" Robin asked obviously changing the subject

"Raven broke hers with a book"

"Did she have a tantrum or something?" Robin asked with a raised eyebrow

"No, I just didn't meditate like I had to" Raven's monotone voice said from the doorway, at her side was Speedy and Smirks was already looking around the room

"Are you feeling ok Rae?" He was concerned now, Raven's powers haven't gone out her hands since her father incident, and after been his girlfriend she learned how to express a lot more her emotions without the fear of blowing up something

"Just great" With that Raven walked to the counter, looking for some more tea. The day was colder than she had thought and more of her beloved tea wouldn't hurt, though the caffeine will be doing its job later at night

"Can I have some Raven?" Speedy asked making his way to the counter, Raven looked at him curiously "It's really cold and I like tea, some right now doesn't sound too bad"

"Ok, if you're sure" Raven answered filling the pot with more water before put it on the stove

"You really like tea?" Asked Robin incredulous to Speedy when he took a sit besides him

"Yeah, my favorites are green, chamomile and orange blossom" Speedy answered not looking at Robin

"Great, now I'm preparing some chamomile" Raven said, her back to the two masked boys

"Ok, if you'll drink tea then I'll drink some warm soy milk!" BB exclaimed leaving Smirks inspect Silkie and running to the fridge to take his milk "Do you think Cy and Star will come back soon?"

"Not idea" Robin answered not really paying attention to the changeling, he was lost in deep thought

"Ok, then Cyborg won't have a chance of not let me drink my milk" BB poured some milk in a mug and put it into the microwave

"Still doesn't like you being a vegetarian?" This time Speedy looked to the one he was talking to

"Nope, but I don't like him being a meat devouring either"

After that everything went quiet except again fro Smirks and, now, Silkie playing around. Soon the pot sounded as did the microwave

"Sweet! It's ready!" The changeling yelled taking the mug from the microwave, by the handle of course

Raven filled two mugs with the hot liquid giving one to Speedy, Robin watching closely every little move that both of his friends made. Raven didn't look at any of the boys to the face, and Speedy didn't look at Robin any moment not wanting to start a glare contest.

Beast Boy felt all of this but said nothing not wanting to get into trouble after the punishment he received earlier that day… Aw, who is he kidding? He can't stay quiet

"Guys, anyone wants to come and sit with me watching some TV?"

"I'm coming, not like I have anything better to do" Raven said with a shrug walking to the big 'U' shaped couch in the living room

"How 'bout you clones?" Beast Boy said to the other two boys who answered with death glares underneath their masks, BB sweat-drooped "Uh, I mean; dudes?"

"Ok" Speedy answered getting up following the dark titan, Robin followed without another word.

Raven sat in the middle of the couch –sit at the left end of it like she used to was forgotten during her relationship with Robin, he made her sit at his side and he always liked to be at the center-, BB took the sit at her left and started to surf through the channels

Speedy rounded the couch looking for sit at Raven's other side, but Robin knew what the archer was planning to do and jumped over the couch landing at Raven's right side with not intention of moving. With his place occupied Speedy walked further and sat at BB' left side. Smirks jumped from the floor and on the couch, leaving Silkie asleep under the coffee table, and put its head on Speedy's lap

"Just hope that dog-"

"Smirks" Speedy interrupted Robin

"Smirks" Sighed Robin "Don't leave fur on the couch"

"Don't worry, he won't" Speedy answered, BB finally found an Action/ Sci-Fi movie the team had seen sometime ago and started to watch it, oblivious of the glare that Robin was sending Speedy and vice versa, not that he could tell when both of them had their masks on.

**Che cosa è vita se non un tempo comune puro che un giorno dovremo dare indietro, anche quando alcuni mai desiderio per farlo**

**: Twenty Minutes Later:**

Raven was bored of the movie; she wasn't the one of see a movie more than once in her whole life at least she had liked it a lot, and that movie wasn't one of them.

She wanted to get out that place at that very moment, her emphatic powers were working and the tension between Speedy and Robin was driving her crazy; Beast Boy was pretty calm as was Smirks, that had fallen asleep some time ago, and still the storm was continuing, a little softer but was still out there.

Finally Raven stood up

"I'm going to-"

"Hey y'all, we're back!" The four teens heard Cyborg's voice say from the door.

Cyborg was smiling in the doorway, Starfire could be seen behind him with the new window in hands also happy of going back home. The yell had woken up Smirks and Silkie and now they both were running to greet the newcomers; Smirks remembered Cyborg from the last time he saw them outside the forest and Silkie would never let the opportunity of being with his K'norfca; Starfire.

"Hey, you're finally back" Robin said standing up, Beast boy and Speedy did it as well

"Yup, the traffic near the crystal store was horrible" Cyborg said, then he looked at Raven "But I have the window and we can change it now if you wish Rae"

"Yeah, I'd like that" Raven nodded walking towards the door, was then that Cyborg and Starfire, who had left the crystal rest against the wall, noticed Speedy

"Oh, hello friend Speedy. It has been so long since the last time we saw each other" Starfire exclaimed as she took Speedy in one of her bone-crushing-breathe-taker hugs, Speedy started almost immediately to become blue

"Hi… Star… Let… Me… Go… Please!" Speedy choked, fortunately Star heard every word

"I apologize my friend, how have you been?" Star blushed a little for being too brusque with her greeting

"It's ok, I'm fine Star" Speedy assured

"What are ya doin' around here man?" Cyborg asked giving Speedy a high five

"BB and Raven invited me to come here while the storm passed" The archer answered with a smile, the first time Raven had seen Speedy smile since the last time they were left alone

"Glorious!" Star exclaimed very happy "The forest must be very cold at the moment"

"Just a bit"

"If you say so, c'mon Raven, let's change your window" Cyborg called, he was almost picking up the glass when it started to float surrounded by a dark energy

"Let me help you" Raven said passing Cyborg towards her room, Cyborg nodded and followed

"Ok, I'm going to continue watching the movie" BB announced sitting on the couch again

"What a beautiful dog" Star said petting Smirks on the head, the dog seemed comfortable with the alien princess as well as he had with the rest saving for Robin

"That's my dog, its name is Smirks" Speedy answered smiling proud of his dog

"You have a very beautiful bumgorf Speedy"

"Um… thanks?" Speedy answered unsure of what 'bumgorf' meant, but it didn't sound like a bad thing

"I shall go with friend Beast Boy and partake on the watching of that movie… Did we not see that one once?" With that Starfire floated to the couch with Beast Boy, their larva pet was already there enjoying the cushions

This left Robin and Speedy alone

"Why you don't trust me?"

Robin felt startled; he wasn't expecting someone talking, much less Speedy

"What do you mean?"

"You don't trust me Robin, why?" Speedy said looking at Robin

"I trust you" Robin answered "But this facts, they're different from what you're" Robin turned ready to go out of the room when he heard Speedy saying

"Maybe you don't know me enough" Then the door closed and nothing else was heard besides the TV

**Che cosa è vita se non un tempo comune puro che un giorno dovremo dare indietro, anche quando alcuni mai desiderio per farlo**

**: At Raven's room"**

"Ok Rae, let's see your window"

Raven nodded and opened the curtain, Cyborg looked down and saw the hole; it wasn't too big but the spot where it was, was very unusual. No everyone would be capable of hit just that specific spot, it was very precise…

"Are you sure that what you told Starfire was a lie?" Raven glared at him

"Of course it was a lie, what reason would I have to lie to you?"

"I was just making sure" Raven sighed and Cyborg felt a little more relaxed, he continued "It's just that the hole is in a really precise spot of the glass… and, you know, it's very strange"

"Yeah, I think so too, but no one has come to the island besides us because otherwise the alarms would have sounded. And all of you know you aren't allowed to enter here"

"Rae?" Raven looked up at his teammate "Don't you know anything about this? Any strange feeling, or presence, or something?"

"I…" The sorceress trailed off for a moment, she remembered what happened before she went to the forest; the water trail, the strange sounds and the fact that the tape on her window was lying on the floor "… Haven't feel anything strange lately, what I felt about the puppets was just paranoia for stress"

"If you say so" Cyborg sighed, again his sixth sense worked telling him something was wrong with the Goth Titan, but if she didn't want to talk about at the moment he knew better than trying to make her do it

Raven nodded and both of them changed the window; Raven took away the old window and covered the whole where it should be while Cyborg replaced it with the new glass. Soon they finished and headed back to the common room, during all that time neither of them said something that wasn't about the 'repair the window' subject

**Che cosa è vita se non un tempo comune puro che un giorno dovremo dare indietro, anche quando alcuni mai desiderio per farlo**

**Ok, that's finished. It didn't have to much but it's like an extra chapter that just added tension between the two masked titans, things are going to continue and the one that's causing all of this is still a mystery… or is it? **

**Anyway, things doesn't look pretty to Robin and they don't seem to change anytime soon -poor Robin-**

**The phrase says: **'What's life if not a mere shared time that one day we'll have to give back, even when some never wish to do it'

**Please Review and see you soon!**


	12. Capitolo undici

**Hello everyone!**

**RaeRobFan: **lol, ok. Maybe they will sometime... And of course there will be more horror! I like to write and tell horror stories heh, heh

**Mizuki Ai: **Thanks, and yes she'll face him later

**Ishii Sen Ling: **I'm glad you liked it, thanks for review

**Serasvictoria666: **Thank you very much, it means a lot to me and thank you for follow my story

**x.Babe.x: **OK, thanks for the compliments!

**Thank you everyone for the reviews guys!**

**Che cosa gli occhi non vedono, la mente non può interferire. E che cosa la mente non interferisce, perché gli occhi non la vedono, forse contrassegnerà la conclusione della vostra vita**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the TT or the original book

**Where we left: **Raven took away the old window and covered the whole where it should be while Cyborg replaced it with the new glass. Soon they finished and headed back to the common room, during all that time neither of them said something that wasn't about the 'repair the window' subject

**Now with the story…**

**Che cosa gli occhi non vedono, la mente non può interferire. E che cosa la mente non interferisce, perché gli occhi non la vedono, forse contrassegnerà la conclusione della vostra vita**

**CHAPTER 11**

**: An Hour Later:**

"Raven, I think it's time for me to leave" Raven looked up from her book to see Speedy standing before her

"Excuse me?"

"The rain's stopped and I don't need to be here anymore"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah" Speedy nodded "I'd like to go back there, check on my camp and all"

"Ok" Raven sighed standing up

"Guys!" The archer called the rest –save Robin- who were happily watching TV still, the movie had just finished and they decided to watch another series "I gotta go"

"Now dude? But I was going to challenge you in a videogame after this show" BB complained

"Yeah man, why don't you stay some more?" Cyborg agreed

"No, thanks, but I want to go back to the forest" Speedy said truthfully

"Friend, do you not wish to be with us?" Starfire asked concerned

"It's not that Star, really. But I'd like to go back to the forest and check on my place, just to be sure that it's ok"

"All right, but you have to come and visit us more often kay?"

"Sure Cyborg" Speedy assured "I'll go now"

"Mind if I go with you?" Speedy turned around and shoot Raven a curious look

"You wanna come?"

"What, I can't?" Raven asked

"It's not that, but… why?" Speedy inquired, the other three titans were waiting for the answer as well

"I'm bored, some fresh air won't be bad" The dark titan excused

"Ok then, Smirks, we have to go!" Speedy called and soon Smirks was at his and Raven's side "See y'all soon!"

"Sure!" Cyborg, BB and Starfire called back, but then BB added

"Don't do anything funny!" The remote suddenly glowed back and hit him square on the back of his head "Ow, I was just joking!"

**Che cosa gli occhi non vedono, la mente non può interferire. E che cosa la mente non interferisce, perché gli occhi non la vedono, forse contrassegnerà la conclusione della vostra vita**

**: With Raven and Speedy:**

They arrived to the garage and Speedy turned to Raven when he reached his motorcycle

"Want a ride?"

"Are you going to drive like you did when we came here?" Retorted Raven, she wouldn't let Speedy drive again like he did before, they would surely get killed

"Is there another way?" He asked with a smirk

"Then forget it, I'll go all by myself"

"What? Do I drive that bad?" Speedy asked faking hurt

"No, but it was too dangerous, did you ever think that you could have slipped or something?"

"Now, now Raven. It didn't happen, did it?" Speedy tried to reason with the almost paranoid titan "I know how to drive this baby"

"You weren't even using a helmet" Raven pointed

"I have one, but only one, I knew you wouldn't accept it and if you risked your life then I would have to do it as well. But my helmet is right in the compartment under the seat" Speedy said opening the compartment and showing Raven his helmet to prove his point

"Another reason for me to go levitating, you can use your helmet and don't have to risk yourself"

"Raven, don't worry so much about me" Raven scowled and Speedy sighed "I'll make a deal with you, come with me on my motorbike to the forest, if I slip or crash or anything of the sort then you can levitate the rest of the way and then I'll put on my helmet ok?" _'That's if we don't die at the moment' _Raven thought

Speedy hold out his hand for Raven to shake, but Raven didn't seem to agree, after a couple of seconds he added

"'Sides, you'll use your powers to prevent anything to happen"

"I will" Raven answered still not taking his hand "I'll close the deal if you promise to stay under the 80 Km/h alright?"

"Aw man" Speedy pretended to complain, but when he saw Raven's scowl back he continued "Ok, I promise I'll stay under 80, do we have a deal" He extended his hand again and this time Raven, although a little hesitant, shook it

"Deal"

"All right" Speedy exclaimed "Smirks, get over here!"

The mutt looked up at his master and immediately ran towards him hopping on the front part of Speedy's 'baby', Speedy hopped behind him and looked back at Raven. With a final sigh and pray she settled herself behind Speedy taking hold of his shoulders. At this the Titan East felt the necessity of tease the girl behind him

"Wouldn't you be more comfortable holding my waist again?"

"Wouldn't you be happier if I do that?" Raven answered with her own question looking annoyed at Speedy as he looked over his shoulder to her

"Yeah, I would" Raven hit him lightly in the back making him laugh "Hey not need of being violent"

"Not need of being cocky" The girl replied

"That's my job" Speedy shrugged looking to the front again turning on the motorbike "And yours is to be the most boring person I've met"

Raven let go of his shoulders and put her hands on her hips looking offended

"What do you mean, I can have fuuuuuu…" Raven screamed the last word as Speedy revved up lifting the front part of the vehicle making her hold of his waist as tight as she has done the first time she mounted it. Smirks started to bark and Speedy gave a short yell of happiness

"Aren't you more comfortable like this?" Speedy asked over his shoulder receiving another punch on the back from Raven

"Don't take your eyes off the road!" She said over the sound of the motor "And if you ever do that again you'll understand better than anyone the meaning of the word 'pain'"

"Is that a threat or a promise?" Speedy smirked

"Just shut up and drive" Raven yelled making Speedy snicker as he continued on their way to the forest

**Che cosa gli occhi non vedono, la mente non può interferire. E che cosa la mente non interferisce, perché gli occhi non la vedono, forse contrassegnerà la conclusione della vostra vita**

**: At the Forest:**

"Ok, here we are" Speedy announced turning off the motorbike just outside the wall/entrance of his camp

"At last" Raven deadpanned getting off the vehicle along the other Titan and the dog

"I didn't break my promise, I stayed under 80Km/h" Speedy commented opening the wall and letting Raven go in first

"You'll have to wash you 'baby'" Speedy looked at his bike and saw it covered with mud, it would take a lot of time to take it completely off but then again… They both had mud over them as well, just half of their legs were dirty

"I'll just clean it a bit, the rains will continue and it'll get dirty again"

"If you say so… Smirks also needs a bath" The mentioned dog was already playing with a fallen branch under the part of the camp that wasn't covered, and, by now, it was covered with mud just like motorbike

"If I take him to the lake it'll be arranged" Speedy shrugged walking to stand besides Raven

"Won't he get sick?" Raven asked, eyebrow quirked

"Nah, he has his towel, I'll just take it with me for dry him when he is ready"

"Ok" Raven nodded. They stayed in silence for some minutes just standing besides each other when suddenly Speedy spoke again startling Raven

"How did your window broke?"

"Didn't you hear what Robin and Beast Boy said before we entered to the living room?" Raven asked to the archer

"It's a lie, how did it really break?" He didn't look at her in any moment, but instead kept looking straight forward

"Why do you say it's a lie?"

"Raven, don't evade the question ok? I just know you're lying and I'm surprised Robin didn't discover it"

"I don't know" Raven answered simply, this time Speedy looked at her hoping she would continue "It was broken when I arrived to my room yesterday night"

"Why didn't you repair it?"

"There was nothing to repair it with" This time she was the one who didn't look at him "The crystals were nowhere to be found"

"Weird" Was the only thing he said to her

"Totally" Raven nodded once

"Any idea of how it would have happened?"

"None" Raven shook her head looking down

Speedy decided not to push it further and instead went to his nightstand looking for a cloth to wash his motorcycle

Raven sighed and took a few steps towards the bed but stopped dead in her tracks soon, there was a puppet on it; the same puppet that was there since the first time she went to the camp, Speedy had left it there. Raven looked at it very carefully, it scared her, shivers ran down her spine and her muscles tensed, she still was surprised that a little doll such as that one would have those effects over her.

'_Sssstaaaayy' _Raven heard someone call, she looked around but Smirks was trying to get Speedy to throw the stick he was playing with and Speedy didn't seem to hear something, Raven shrugged and decided she was starting to imagine things _'Sssstaaaayy'_

Ok, now Raven knew she heard something, she looked at Speedy

"Speedy?"

"Mmhmm?" Asked the archer not looking away of his motorbike

"Didn't you hear something?"

"Like what?"

"Someone saying something, like 'stay' but in a long hiss" Raven explained looking around

"No Raven, I didn't hear anything" He answered finally throwing the stick for Smirks to seek

"Really?" Raven was feeling frightened inside, she could have sworn…

"Yeah, really. Are you felling ok Raven?" Speedy looked at her a bit concerned

"Yes, just a little nervous, that's all" Raven talked more to herself than to the boy trying to assure herself that everything was ok

"If you're sure" With that Speedy went back to work not before throw Smirks the stick once again

'_Sssstaaaayy'_

Raven looked around once again but she didn't see anything suspicious, or that she could catalogue suspicious in that place anyway, and again Smirks and Speedy were acting like if nothing was happening. Suddenly, she felt something strange and her eyes landed on the puppet on the bed, it was there, immobile, but still looking terribly creepy and horrible; and, as if it was a horror movie, as much as she wanted to, she just couldn't look away of the doll.

Just then, she started to loose control over her body, and her mind went blank; her feet started to walk all by their own and she didn't know what was happening anymore and time seemed to stop

"Raven?" Raven jumped and turned around only to see Speedy gawping at her "Are you ok?"

"Wha?"

"What are you doing?" Speedy made his next question now walking towards her, Raven looked at him puzzled for a moment so he motioned to her arms

Raven looked down and gasped silently, in her arms, as if it were a baby, was the puppet that once lay on Speedy's bed. She stood petrified at that, the head of the doll was facing her completely, resting its head when her forearm ended and her upper arm started; she didn't know what to do, those empty eyes pierced through her not allowing her senses to work properly

"… Uh… Ummm"

"Why don't you keep it?"

"Huh?" Now Raven knew she was making a fool of herself in front of Speedy but she couldn't help it, that fact was so strange

"Why don't you keep the puppet? I mean, you're holding it" Speedy explained

"Well I… I…" Raven looked Speedy in the eye, or what she thought would be the eyes behind the mask "I think I'll do it"

"Ok, keeping it will prevent you to forget about me" The boy smirked playfully and Raven smiled ever so slightly, her arms dropped holding with one hand the doll

"No one could ever forget of someone as cocky as you"

"Then, I don't have to worry of be out of your mind huh?" Speedy leaned over her making Raven give some steps backwards

"Yeah, in the part of 'Most hated people'"

"Oh, really?" Speedy asked raising an eyebrow "What would I have to do for being in the other side of your mind?"

"You have to wait and not piss me off, maybe you can get there in about a century or two" She answered turning so her back was facing him

"Hey, at least there's a chance" Speedy pointed proud, Raven chuckled and turned to him

"A very remote possibility if you ask me"

"I didn't" Speedy grinned in a way that Raven could only answer with her own, Speedy sighed and looked serious "Raven, can I ask you for a favor?"

**Che cosa gli occhi non vedono, la mente non può interferire. E che cosa la mente non interferisce, perché gli occhi non la vedono, forse contrassegnerà la conclusione della vostra vita**

**: At Titans Tower almost half an hour later:**

"How do you say you just said?"

"I said, Beast Boy" Raven started again "That Speedy asked me not to go back to the forest for him again, he said that if it was just a visit then there wasn't any problem, but not to get him out of there because he wouldn't accept no matter how much we beg"

"But why?" Complained BB like a little child

"It's his decision and I want you to accept it" Raven said tried to remain calm

"It is most uncommon for Speedy to act so… Serious and lonely" Starfire commented

"Yeah, the time I have know him showed me an air-headed jerk" Cyborg agreed "Intelligent and intuitive like Robin, but still a jerk"

"Yeah, and since when he is so cold towards Robin and vice versa?" BB put his two cents

"I don't know guys" Raven answered "I know he's acting a bit different but not too much"

"Raven, the guys whose hair was his biggest pride now is living in a forest, taking care of a dog and out of his city and team" Cyborg explained letting Raven figure out what he meant

"Ok, ok, he's acting weird, I know it" Raven admitted defeated "But if one change it's by will, he has to have some reason for do it"

The three titans before her thought about it for a moment, and then looked back at the Goth Titan

"Yeah Rae, you got that right" Cyborg nodded, Star and BB nodded along. Raven nodded satisfied and started to walk out the room when she turned facing her friends again

"Um, where's Robin?"

"I think he's in his room" BB answered "Why?"

"Just thinking, he has spent a lot of time there lately" Raven answered walking out before anyone could say anything else. Once the doors closed she bent down to pick the doll Speedy gave her, it was resting against the wall right next to the door

Raven made the way to her room and entered there turning on the light, it only helped a little but it helped. Walking to her bed she looked at the puppet again, thinking in what happened in the forest

"What happened to me? What was with the voices?" She asked herself, the doll didn't move or answer, not that she wanted it to "I'm going crazy"

There was a knock at her door and she looked to it

"What?" She asked and waited for the reply, it was Beast Boy

"Rae, we're going for some Chinese now that isn't raining anymore, you comin'?"

"I'll be right there" Raven called back throwing the puppet on her bed, it landed on her pillow. With one last glance at the doll Raven exited of her bedroom to join the others

As soon as the door was closed the puppet fell from the pillow to the mattress, its head landed in a way that made it look like if it was gazing the closed door with those two big holes that were supposed to be its eyes, the dim light entering from the window made its mouth form an evil smirk, anyone could have sworn that the doll was alive and thinking of something, something bad…

**Che cosa gli occhi non vedono, la mente non può interferire. E che cosa la mente non interferisce, perché gli occhi non la vedono, forse contrassegnerà la conclusione della vostra vita**

**Done! The episode is finnaly up and so the story continues, what do you think about it? Is it good?**

**Please review and thanks to everyone that is following this, it means a lot to me, I'm serious.**

**The phrase says: **'What the eyes don't see, the mind can't catch. And what the mind doesn't catch, because the eyes don't see it, maybe will mark the end of your life'

**See y'all soon!**


	13. Capitolo dodici

**I'm back with this story!**

**x.Babe.x: **Thanks, hope you like this one

**Serasvictoria666: **Thank you, Robin disappearing is part of the whole thing but he'll be even more jealous soon. Also Raven keeping the puppet is going to be an important part of this too, you'll see

**Tuli-Susi: **Thanks, at least I know how to create phrases

**Ishii Sen Ling: **The doll is very creepy alright, and Raven and Speedy will be living some… interesting things

**Mizuki Ai: **At least I'm creating suspense here, let's see what happens

**Thanx for the reviews guys!**

**Quando un cuore sta battendo i mezzi la vita, ma quando arresta i mezzi la morte?/ Quando un cuore sta battendo i mezzi la vita, ma quando arresta i mezzi la morte?**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the TT or the original book

**Where we left: **As soon as the door was closed the puppet fell from the pillow to the mattress, its head landed in a way that made it look like if it was gazing the closed door with those two big holes that were supposed to be its eyes, the dim light entering from the window made its mouth form an evil smirk, anyone could have sworn that the doll was alive and thinking of something, something bad…

**Now with the story…**

**Quando un cuore sta battendo i mezzi la vita, ma quando arresta i mezzi la morte?/ Quando un cuore sta battendo i mezzi la vita, ma quando arresta i mezzi la morte?**

**CHAPTER 12**

**: Back at Titans Tower after eat their Chinese food:**

Raven was meditating in her room, she had put the doll at her bed's foot trying not to shudder at the sight of it and now was floating above it.

She was thinking about how the travel to the Chinese restaurant was; Beast Boy, Cyborg and Starfire were talking about everything and anything like always, the fight between what kind of food would be eaten was present as well, the lame jokes, the naïve questions and comments about the food were heard, there was also some participation from her as well when she was asked something… but Robin, Robin spoke only two times during the whole meal; when he said what he wanted to eat, and when he asked for the bill.

She didn't know what was happening with him, but he was more serious than usual, she could feel with her empathy that something was troubling him, but she just couldn't say what it was.

She thought that maybe it could be because of Speedy, living in the forest and acting not at all like himself. Or perhaps he had found some lead in a villain and started to get obsessive over it, something that just happened with Slade and Red X and they haven't heard of them since a long time ago. Maybe he was depressed about something, if that was the case then she would have to go and check on him… but what if there was nothing wrong with him and he just is wanting sometime alone?

With a sigh Raven stopped meditating and lowered herself to the bed before walk out of her room and to the main room of the Tower, maybe she could find something to entertain her mind.

Upon arriving there she saw something that was defiantly something she didn't expect to see; Cyborg was eating a big sandwich on the table and BB was on his knees begging the mechanical Titan for something. Listening carefully she heard the words

"C'mon dude, pleeaasee?" The green boy asked

"I said no, I don't want to go"

"But why? Robin says no, Star says no and now you? It was supposed to be a team outing but no one wants to go"

"What 'bout Raven?" Asked Cyborg noticing the dark girl in the room, but BB stayed oblivious to her presence

"I was going to ask her last because I thought at least one of you could help me to convince her to come with us, but now I'm on my own and probably she'll say no… And I don't want to go alone"

"Why don't you ask her now?"

"Oh yeah sure" Beast Boy said sarcastically as he stood up with his back still to Raven as he pretended to ask her "Hi Raven, look there is this super cool new movie that I want to see but no one else wants to come with me so I was wondering; would you like to go to the movies with me?"

"What kind of movie is it?" Raven asked in her monotonous startling the green boy who, with a scream, jumped and morphed into a lizard sticking to the ceiling, shaking

Cyborg snickered and Raven rolled her eyes before speak again

"It's just me Beast Boy, you can come down now"

The lizard dropped to the floor morphing into the boy and standing straight laughing ashamed rubbing the back of his neck

"Heh, sorry Rae, but you scared me"

"Whatever, you were saying something about a movie?"

"Oh yeah, look, there's a new movie that premiered just some days ago and I want to see it but everybody says no when I ask if they want to come along and so I only needed to ask you last"

"And the movie is about…" Raven asked with a quirked eyebrow

"It's a horror movie that is almost the same that Wicked Scared but with better effects and instead of eating brains a ghost plays with the minds of the victims. Isn't that like the coolest thing ever?" BB yelled exited

"It sounds interesting" Raven shrugged before look back at Cyborg who was eating happily "Why did you say 'no'?"

"Mecauf" Cyborg swallowed before continue "There's no way in hell that I'll go to watch a horror movie, the sequel of Wicked Scary was almost as scary as the first one, good thing that sequels are never good"

"It wasn't that scary, it was just fine" Raven said rolling her eyes

"For you maybe, but I ain't watching that movie. You two go and have fun but don't count me in" The largest teen there folded his arms over his chest like a little child

"Baby" BB said under his breath before turn to Raven with hopeful eyes "So, are you comin'?"

"Each one will pay their part?" The girls asked playfully yet serious

"If you want" BB showed her a toothy grin

"Yeah sure, when do you want to go?"

"Yay!" BB yelled happy with a jump before turn and answer "How 'bout tomorrow at six?"

"When does the movie start?"

"At six thirty, I've already checked the hours in the newspaper"

"You read the newspaper?" Raven asked surprised the question Cyborg was asking himself, BB then looked disgusted and answered

"Dude, do I look like Robin to you?" The other two shook their heads and he continued "Of course no, I only took the page where the movie was with function hours and all"

"Ok, that's comforting" Cyborg said standing up to put his plate in the sink "I thought you might hurt your brain if you read something as intellectual as the newspaper"

"Hey, I can understand a newspaper… It's just that I don't know the meaning of some words" The green boy finished lamely looking his shoes with a blush on his face

"Sure B, if you need me I'll be at the training room k?" Cyborg called over his shoulder exiting from the living room

"Are you sure you want to come?" Asked the shape shifter to his friend to be sure

"Are you sure the movie is at six thirty?" She answered with her own question

"Yup, I'm going to my room, see ya!" Beast Boy ran to his room happy that someone had already accepted to go with him to see the movie he longed to see

Raven looked him go and sighed, it wouldn't hurt go to the movies with someone, the Tower didn't feel as quiet and secure as it felt some time ago and part of that feeling was because the way Robin and her were acting; trying to evade the other.

"You and Beast Boy are going on a date?" Raven jumped slightly and turned to see Robin entering to the living room from the adjacent door to the kitchen, his face emotionless

"It's not a date Robin, it was supposed to be a team outing" Raven answered hiding any kind of emotion from her voice "Besides, this is in part your fault; why did you say 'no' when Beast Boy asked you to go?"

"I have other things to do tomorrow" He answered knowing she was right; he said 'no' but he thought she would say 'no' too. Robin filled a kettle with water and put it to boil for he could prepare his coffee, Raven watching silently until he continued "You went to the forest with Speedy again when he left, making sure he was ok?"

"Kinda" Raven answered glaring at his back, what was wrong with her accompanying her friend?

"Good results?"

"It all depends on what you call 'good'" Raven answered not knowing where this conversation was going "Robin"

"What?" He asked not turning to see her, his tone wasn't cold but wasn't happy either

"Did you and Speedy have an argument or something?"

"What makes you think that?" Now Robin turned to her, having an idea of why she asked that

"You are acting like he was your enemy or something but I don't understand you, you two always seemed to be very good friends"

Robin thought about it for a moment, he knew the main reason for him to be acting like that towards the archer… but was it enough to give Speedy the cold, ok; the freezing shoulder to him

"Raven, something is wrong with him, I can tell. I'm not sure what but there's something out of place; he coming to Jump just because he liked the forest, taking care of dog instead of his appearance, the puppets…"

"I know all of that Robin" Raven said after he trailed off "I know it's weird but if he wants to live his life that way then you can't try to get him to change; that's his own decision"

"There's something strange happening here Raven, I'm sure" Robin said stubbornly, his instincts told him something was out of place

"Maybe you're just being paranoid Robin, it wouldn't be the first time" The girl said to her leader, and he knew that she had said that for more than one reason

"C'mon Raven, I know you can feel it too" Raven thought about it, she knew he was right but she still wasn't going to say it out loud; not just for pride but because she hadn't proof of anything

"I'm going to bed, Good night"

"Raven" He called after her but she didn't stop, when she was finally out the room he whispered "What can I do to regain your trust?"

**Quando un cuore sta battendo i mezzi la vita, ma quando arresta i mezzi la morte?/ Quando un cuore sta battendo i mezzi la vita, ma quando arresta i mezzi la morte?**

**: The next morning at Titans Tower:**

Raven woke up the next morning, it was raining and the room was colder than yesterday. Raven lay down on her bed again glancing at the clock, it read 7:15. Raven groaned and rolled to the side, she preferred cold rather than hot when it came to weather but the idea of leaving her bed wasn't pleasant.

Her eyes traveled to the feet of her bed, the puppet lay there with its limbs stretched and the head turned to the door, she was grateful about that because she couldn't the horrible face the puppet had. She still was wondering why she had decided to keep it, maybe it was for Speedy to feel happy, or maybe she was loosing her mind; whatever the reason was the doll was now with her and Raven could only pray for it to just go away. She could get rid of the puppet easily but then she would feel guilty. Raven looked away from the puppet and to the wall not wanting more thoughts about that thing in her head.

After try to convince herself that stay in bed would only make her lazy she got up, shivering for the cold that trespassed her dark blue long sleeved shirt and black pants –she decided not to sleep in her uniform- and went to the bathroom to take a shower taking her clothes with her.

After the bath she went to the living room to get her usual tea, she arrived and saw that Starfire was already up looking for something to eat in the fridge. Raven was surprised to say the least to see her only girl-friend in the tower up at such hour

"Starfire?" The alien girl looked up at her friend and smiled brightly

"Greetings in this no so wonderful morning, Raven!"

"What are you doing up so early?"

"It is strange for me to be up at such an early hour but…" Starfire trailed off thinking in the best way to tell Raven why she woke up two hours earlier that she usually did "About half an hour ago I heard strange sounds coming from the hallway, at first I thought it was Silkie running around looking for something edible, but when I saw my little bumgorf on his bed I knew it could not be him"

"What happened after that Star?" Raven asked after her friend stayed quiet for a few seconds. Starfire looked Raven in the eye and continued

"I exited of my sleeping quarters to discover who the one making the noises was, but when I looked around I saw no one and the sound disappeared. When I went back to bed I heard the sound again outside my door and down the end of the hallway but when I looked out again everything stopped and the place was empty. I tried to sleep once again, but the fact alerted me so much that I simply lost any trace of tiredness; I decided that, now that I was awake, could get something to eat and maybe prepare the early meal for all of my friends" The alien princess finished excitedly not noticing the look of surprise on Raven's face

"Starfire, what kind of sounds were the ones that you heard out your door?" Starfire put a finger on her chin remembering

"They sounded just like footsteps made by someone very light and small. That's why I thought it may have been Silkie"

Raven stayed in silence, it was the same sound she had heard in her room just yesterday, what did it mean? Who was making those noises and why, there was no answer and she wasn't sure she would wanted to hear it

"Friend Raven, is something concerning you?" Raven shook her head and looked back at Starfire

"No Star, I was just thinking" Raven then looked out the window and started to wonder about Speedy again, was he in the forest at the moment? And if he wasn't, was Smirks there? If that was the case then the poor dog was surely very cold and perhaps lonely or hungry "Star, I'm going to the forest for a moment, could you tell the others if they ask?"

"Why are you going to the forest now?"

"I want to make sure Speedy is ok, and if he isn't there maybe I can bring his dog with me until he arrives" raven answered walking out the room

"Sure, I shall inform the others if they ask" Was the last thing Raven heard from the Tamaranian before the door closed

**Quando un cuore sta battendo i mezzi la vita, ma quando arresta i mezzi la morte?/ Quando un cuore sta battendo i mezzi la vita, ma quando arresta i mezzi la morte?**

**: In the Forest:**

Raven appeared under the big willow she had fist saw Speedy in the forest; she had decided to teleport in there instead of go flying and use her powers to form a shield, going alone didn't took the energy it took when she teleported more people than herself, but her calculus failed and she didn't end up at Speedy's camp

"Well, I guess I'll have to walk a little" Raven said with s sigh and started walking

Soon she felt like levitating because the rain was making the ground mud and her feet started to bury into it. The uniform she was using the last day was in the laundry basket and this new one –identical the other one- would have to accompany it when she was finished. Making up her mind she levitated some inches from the ground and floated the last part of the trip towards her destination.

Upon arriving there she opened the wall Speedy always used like a door and stepped 'inside'. Looking around she spotted the archer already up and working an a new puppet with Smirks sleeping at his side, the mutt had to be very tired, it usually heard when someone opened the wall, even with the rain its ears could have heard her

"Morning" Raven said walking over to Speedy who looked up at her smiling, he didn't seemed startled at all

"Morning, what are you doing here so early?" It sounded like the question of the day but she answered in her monotonous tone

"I wanted to see how you're doing, I'm surprised to see you this early here as well"

"It wouldn't be such a surprise" Raven raised and eyebrow and was about to ask him what he meant when he continued "Ya know? We didn't ask Cyborg about the symbols on my knife"

Raven looked at the knife he was holding and noted the symbols again, she wanted to know what it meant but it'd had to wait now

"Next time we'll do it, don't worry"

"I don't do that so much" Speedy smirked putting the unfinished puppet aside "Do you still have the puppet I gave you yesterday?"

"Yeah" She answered sitting at his side "It's a gift and I always keep a gift"

"No exception?" The archer asked to the girl with a grin and Raven played along

"There are, but I think that just throw up a gift, like say a puppet, that someone gave me, say you, would be a little mean even if you hated the person who gave it to you. Don't you think so?"

"That's touching" Speedy deadpanned mockingly making Raven smile just a little, but of course she remembered he stopped her before she could ask her question

"Speedy, why wouldn't be surprise find you here this early?" Speedy looked serious and his head turned to his dog, as he stroked its fur he answered slowly

"Raven, I came to a decision yesterday"

"What is that?" Raven asked concerned by his tone of voice, the boy turned to face her and started to speak

"Raven, I…"

**Quando un cuore sta battendo i mezzi la vita, ma quando arresta i mezzi la morte?/ Quando un cuore sta battendo i mezzi la vita, ma quando arresta i mezzi la morte?**

**: Back at Titans Tower:**

"Greetings on this morning friend Robin!"

"Hi Star, what are you doing up so early?" Robin answered with a yawn making his way to the counter

"I woke up from strange noises out my room, I have already told the story to friend Raven" Star answered

"Is Raven up?" Asked the masked teen, the girl nodded and spoke

"She woke up sometime ago"

"Where is she?"

"She went to the forest to make sure Speedy and Smirks were doing fine" Star answered slowly hoping Robin would not explode with the news, she wasn't stupid and noted the way Robin acted when it was all about Speedy or Speedy _and_ Raven

"But what…?" Robin didn't finished because at that moment the video communicator of the TV turned on and static appeared

"Bumblebee calling the Titans, is anyone in there?" Bumblebee's voice sounded from the TV and Robin went to answer the call immediately

"Robin here" Robin said punching a button making the static disappear and be replaced by Bee's face "Hi Bee, what's going on?"

"Robin, sorry to bother you this early" The Titans East leader apologized totally serious

"Don't worry, I was already up. What's the problem?" Robin asked also serious

"I need to tell you something Robin. Speedy called me yesterday with his communicator after not coming back to the Tower at nights or answering our calls for him to help us with some villains since almost a week ago" Bumblebee informed, Starfire stayed back listening the whole thing

"What?" Robin asked surprised and angry, Speedy had told him a lie! "Why is he doing this?"

"Robin" Bee said calm, she sighed before continue "Speedy… quit to the Titans yesterday"

**Quando un cuore sta battendo i mezzi la vita, ma quando arresta i mezzi la morte?/ Quando un cuore sta battendo i mezzi la vita, ma quando arresta i mezzi la morte?**

**I'm going to finish here, how do you think Robin'll react... not a pretty sight right? And how do you think the rest will take this? Why did Speedy quit in the first place?**

**Enough questions, the answers will come with the next episode that hope can come soon, Please review ok?**

**The phrase says: **'When a heart is beating means the life, but when it stops means the death?'


	14. Capitolo tredici

**Hello my darlings, hello! _Ahem_, sorry but it's like 1:40 am and I'm a bit dizzy, but anyway, I'm back!**

**Ishii Sen Ling: **Answers here, and of course I have to leave it in suspense, I just love to do it!

**Tuli-Susi: **Well, this is horror and I really like to scare people. I was thinking about doing the revelation thingy like you said but it would be just too cruel

**Serasvictoria666: **What do you it that you guessed right? Thanks for the compliments, I'm really glad you like this!

**Mizuki Ai: **Remember the mood Robin is in, 'pushy' is one of the lots of things he will be.

**Malingo13: **I… umm… well, thanks for the review, I'm glad you're liking it, really

**Non pensi in che cosa le strette di futuro, pensano nel soggiorno vivo per scoprirle**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the TT or the original book

**Where we left: **"Robin" Bee said calm, she sighed before continue "Speedy… quit to the Titans yesterday"

**Now with the story…**

**Non pensi in che cosa le strette di futuro, pensano nel soggiorno vivo per scoprirle**

**CHAPTER 13**

**: At the Forest:**

"WHAT!?!?!"

"Raven, I'm going to live here; I have quit to the Titans and I have no intention in going back to my life as a superhero" Speedy answered looking Raven in the eye through his mask

"But why?" Asked Raven shocked

"Because I've come to discover that the Titan duties deprive me of things I like to do, of the liberty to do whatever I want like any other civilian" Speedy stood up from the bed and continued "Haven't you felt that desire ever in your life Raven? Haven't you ever thought about be a normal person without worrying that the life of a lot of people depends of you?" Speedy looked back at Raven who was staring at him "Has that thought never crossed your mind Raven?"

Raven started blankly at him, but inside her there was a wave of questions. Would she like it to be normal? Away from the titans duties? Living a normal life like any other civilian? Then another question came to her mind; could she even be normal? Speedy could join the civilians any day he wanted; he didn't have powers but abilities that he could use in case he needed them, and his appearance was of a human not like her

Raven was pale, purple hair and eyes and a gem on her forehead; maybe it can be changed but she had also another problem: Her powers. She could never be normal, even after she learned how to express more emotions after her father's defeat and her relationship with the Boy Wonder her powers were still something dangerous if she didn't have control over them. Living like a civilian maybe would be dangerous if she didn't keep her emotions steady enough; no she wouldn't live like any other normal person. Living with the Titans and saving people was the only way to use her powers and keep them under control without hurting any innocent

"I couldn't, I couldn't be normal; being a Titan is what I have to do for everyone's sake" Raven said looking back at the boy

"But you have thought about it" Speedy didn't ask, he stated "You have wondered how it would be like be normal, haven't you?"

Raven looked down not able to lie to him but still not wanting to say her answer out loud, Speedy got the answer at the moment

"Why did you say it was better stay like a Titan?" Speedy asked approaching to Raven back to the bed

"It's easier to use my powers against a villain or a training target than let them slip by accident while I have an argument with someone"

"You have more control than that" Raven studied Speedy for any sign of emotion but with his mask over his eyes it was difficult

"How can you be so sure?"

"I just know it" He answered "Let's say you don't have your powers, that you're just like Robin or like me, would you leave the Titans then?"

"I…" Raven trailed off thinking in her answer

"Think on your answer Raven, don't answer just because" Speedy said to Raven in a soft voice

"I…" Raven thought about it, if she didn't have powers then there would be no danger in whatever she did; total freedom. But then again it would mean leave her friends, her family and the only people she had ever grown to love "I don't know"

"You don't know?" Asked Speedy disbelieving

"No, I don't" Raven assured "I'm not sure of what would I do"

"And what makes you doubt?"

"Why didn't you quit before?" Raven answered knowing that he could answer the question by himself

Speedy sighed and looked down

"Because…" He paused for a moment and then continued "Because the Titans are the people I love, my family, my only family since… well, you know"

Raven nodded understanding what he meant; he was talking about what happened not long ago, soothing hard for everyone but defiantly it hit him the most

"I know what makes you doubt" He continued "But now that I've come to a decision it seems so easy for me to ask the others and want an answer right away"

"You took a decision very abruptly for my liking, but I won't say anything else, I just want to ask you one last question" Speedy looked at Raven waiting for her to finish "Will you stay right here? I mean, why don't get an apartment or something, because I don't think you'd like to go to live in our Tower would you?"

The last comment actually made Speedy smile, he didn't know it that was her goal but if it was she knew how to reach it

"And face the Boy Wonder after see the way he acted yesterday? No thanks, I think a bear would be less hostile than him" Raven also smiled just a little

"Agreed, but seriously are you planning in staying in the forest?" They both heard raindrops start to hit against the metal walls making them look around before Raven continued "With this weather and winter soon to come?"

"I don't mind, I like in here" Speedy answered taking one of his lamps and turning it on "I can handle it"

"But, what if you get sick?" Raven insisted

"Raven, I'll make a deal with you" Speedy proposed amused by Raven's insistence

"What is it?" Asked Raven with an eyebrow quirked

"If something bad happens to me, anything, and I survive then you'll come with me to find an apartment, are you ok with it?"

Raven thought for a moment, it was a good deal but that part of 'If I survive' wasn't very promising

"Deal" Raven answered standing up and offering her hand for him to shake, he took it with a smile

"Everything is settled"

"But you have to make me a promise for this deal" Raven added

"What is it?" Speedy asked letting go of her hand

"Promise me that you'll tell me if anything happens" Raven said "Can you make me that promise?"

"I think he can, but I bet he will not keep it"

Speedy and Raven snapped their head to the voice's source, Smirks jumped in front of then growling; something that wasn't new just like the fact that the one at the door was Robin, his voice colder than the days before, if it was possible

"What are you doing here?" Asked Speedy not happy at all

"And why did you say that?" Raven joined to the questions

"I'm here to know why Speedy quit and why the hell he lied to us" His tone didn't change and his face was emotionless

"Lied?" Asked Raven confused

"Oh, so you know that he quit" Robin said mocking surprise, although his face didn't change

"He just told me" Raven answered before Speedy re-entered with a sharp tone

"How do you know that?"

"Bumblebee told me a moment ago, she wanted us to know that we needed to erase you from our 'Allies' list"

"And if I'm not part of the Titans anymore, why do you care?" Speedy replied

"Why did you left?" Robin asked

"It doesn't concern you" Speedy answered

"Yes it does, tell me why did you leave and why did you told us a lie" Robin demanded

"Robin, what do you mean by lie?" Raven asked loudly getting irritated of the two boys

"He didn't tell you? He haven't been going back to hi tower since a week ago" Robin answered making Raven widen her eyes in shock

"What?"

"When he went to the Tower he assured us that he was still sleeping on his Tower and attending the call the Titans East received" Robin explained "But he hasn't"

"I didn't tell _you_ that" Speedy remembered

"No, but you did tell that to my other teammates, and Starfire just gave me the news after I fished Bumblebee's transmission" Robin replied

"Speedy, why didn't you tell us the truth?" Raven asked turning to Speedy, Smirks stopped the growling but his gaze followed Robin's every move

"I was planning to quit sometime now, but I couldn't do it so…" Speedy trailed off looking down

"So you decided to leave your team and your duties instead without advise" Robin finished for Speedy, the archer glared at Robin but didn't say a word giving Robin the answer he needed "Raven, let's get out of here" Robin didn't get all his answers but he didn't want to hear more

"Why should she go with you?" Asked Speedy before Raven could say something

"She's my friend and teammate, I am her leader" Robin answered, but it wasn't enough

"What about a good reason?" Speedy continued asking as cold as Robin answered

"You lied to us before, you lied to her, and if I let her alone with you maybe this time you'll really hurt her; something that I don't wish to happen. She's coming with me"

"She'll decide that, and you'll respect it" Speedy took some steps towards Robin, the other boy didn't move

"You're speaking as if you already know what she'll answer"

"And you as if she couldn't even give you one"

"Raven is coming with me" Robin repeated

"She's staying" Speedy retorted

"She isn't your property" Robin said through gritted teeth

"Neither is yours, not since six months ago"

"Enough!" Raven yelled and the boys turned to her "Stop talking as if I wasn't here, I'm tired of hearing you both"

The two masked teens looked at the girl, she was angry, and they could tell but also was shocked

"What's your problem? Aren't you mature enough to not to fight over every little thing?" The dark titan continued "I can speak, I can give you an answer, I can think by myself and I don't need anyone to do it for me"

Raven looked carefully at the boys before her, they looked down clearly ashamed of putting her aside, answer for her and, most of all, fight over her with Raven looking

"Sorry Raven" Speedy was the first one to say something "It was without thinking"

"You know perfectly well how competitive we can be" Robin continued

Raven noted how they were talking in plural, both taking the responsibility of the argument just like true friends would do. Raven wondered about this change of attitude from the two Titans; before they couldn't agree with anything and now they were together in accepting that the fight was a mistake for many reasons, her empathy helped her to knew the guys were really sorry

"Yes, I know" Her voice was steady and calm once again "I know how you can really be"

Raven gazed away and around the place, the puppets still there but at the moment she didn't care. Smirks sat at her feet and looked around too.

Silence filled the place saving from the rain. Raven felt eyes on her and looked at the boys; both were looking at her expectantly and she realized she hadn't given them an answer as to where would she be. Raven thought about the situation and decided that maybe some time apart of the 'clones' could be good

"I'm going back to the Tower, I need some alone time" The boys nodded but didn't say a word. Robin was happy that she would go back to the Tower, but Speedy was uneasy

"Let's go then, Raven" Robin said turning around and walking to the exit "Maybe we'll see you soon Speedy"

"I'm not Speedy anymore" The red haired boy called to Robin "I'm not a Titan"

Robin turned around and faced the ex-titan, his voice and face serious like attending to business

"Then, who are you?"

"I'm Roy Harper" Roy answered "And that's how I'll be called from now on"

"All right then Roy" Robin replied "Maybe I'll see you soon"

Robin changed the 'we' for 'I', he knew that Raven would be going back to see Roy either he liked it or not. Robin and Raven were almost at the door when Roy spoke

"Raven" The birds turned to see what Roy holding out his hand to the girl "I know you don't trust me like you did before but I wanted to make you the promise we had talked about earlier; I'll call you if anything bad happens to me"

Raven looked hesitantly and Roy couldn't blame her, when she approached some steps but didn't move further he tried one more time

"Please, I promise I'll do it" Raven could hear the pleading in his voice and finally shook her hand with his with a last advertise

"If you break this promise, you can be sure you lost my trust for ever" Roy nodded and they let go of each other "See you later Sp- Roy" Raven stopped herself before she could say his past nickname again and returned with Robin leaving Roy behind

Roy stared at the door for a few seconds before return to his bed and continue with the puppet he was making, Smirks hoping on the bed besides him looking for warm. Roy's face stayed emotionless

**Non pensi in che cosa le strette di futuro, pensano nel soggiorno vivo per scoprirle**

**: Titans Tower 30 minutes before Raven and BB's outing:**

Raven was in her room thinking about earlier; the trip back to the Tower went without a word from either bird and when BB and Cyborg were informed about Speedy they almost fainted for the surprise of it.

Raven also remembered the fight between Robin and, now, Roy; what an odd thing. Raven couldn't believe that she was actually the reason for a fight… Well she wasn't at the beginning, but when Robin had told her to go then she became the cause of the argument. Again, the way they acted during the fight, she could understand Robin but Roy… it was almost like as he…

Nah, it couldn't be, Roy couldn't like her, right? He didn't want anything serious with any girl; he liked all the girls and wanted to play with them. Raven sighed, she knew it wasn't true, it was just the image he had given to everyone, but she knew him better than that

Raven sighed. She knew him better than that but still couldn't believe that there was a possibility of Roy liking her, that simply couldn't exist in this or any other world

**Knock, knock**

"Raven?"

Raven woke up of her trance at the sound of a knock at her door and Beast Boy's voice

"Just a minute Beast Boy" She called to her friend and got out of her bed almost tripping with the puppet that had, somehow fallen from her bed. Raven opened her door to see an uncomfortable green boy outside her room

"Is there a problem" She asked, BB looked up almost sadly

"Yeah, remember that we were supposed to see a movie in about half an hour?"

"Yes" Raven nodded

"Well… can we change it for tomorrow?" Beast Boy thought Raven would be mad at him but he only saw confusion in her eyes

"Why?"

"'Cause I totally forgot to go to the grocery store earlier and I have to go now if I want tomorrow free" He explained sheepishly "Then do you want to go tomorrow?"

Raven thought for a moment and studied to her teammate; there was hope in those huge green eyes of him and his ears were dropped, besides he didn't forgot the movie, he forgot his other duties and it wasn't the first time that happened and, also, she haven't started to get ready yet so there was nothing to lose

"Sure Beast Boy, tomorrow would be fine" Raven answered with just the little curve of her lips, Beast boy lit up at it; the smile, ears and posture really helped to know the way the changeling was feeling

"Really, aren't you mad at me?" Raven thought about it and then faked sadness

"Not exactly but…"

"Oh, I know!" Beast Boy exclaimed believing her act "How about if besides the movie we go for a pizza, it will be my treat, ok?"

Raven wanted to laugh but played along

"I think it'll be ok, what time?"

"I'll be here at noon for you, kay?" Beast Boy asked too much for Raven's like

"Ok, don't be late"

"I won't" With that said Beast Boy ran towards the door of the Tower ready to go shopping for the food of next week, it'll take long

Raven entered to her room happier, BB surely knew how to make things better

**Non pensi in che cosa le strette di futuro, pensano nel soggiorno vivo per scoprirle**

**Well, there is it... Guess what?!? I made the trailer for this story, really, want to see it?**

**http/ ****www. youtube. com**** / watch? v w6zsVAFwsjo**

**There, just erase the spaces, if you can't enter to the page then go to my profile, there is the link to my videos and you can find it**

**The phrase says: **'Don't think in what the future holds, think in stay alive to discover it'

**Please review and see ya'll later!**


	15. Capitolo quattordici

**Hello everyone again! I'm finnaly back!**

**Mizuki Ai: **Thanks, I'm glad you liked it. And yeah, I wanted to calm things a bit with BB at the end.

**Tuli-Susi: **Wow, if this was movie… It would be awesome, unfortunately it won't happen, oh well. I'm glad you like both, the chapter and the trailer, and hope you enjoy what's to come.

**x.Babe.x: **Thanks!

**Serasvictoria666: **I wanted more people to know about this story so I decided to make the trailer, apparently the people liked the video so I'm happy about it. I'm glad you liked the chapter and hop you like what I have planned.

**RaeRobFan: **I'm so glad you liked the trailer and the chapter, things are really started to get more interesting.

**Ishii Sen Ling: **Thanks, hope you enjoy this.

**Thanx for the reviews guys!**

**Vive questo giorno come se sia stato vostro duri, perché non sapete mai se ci sarà domani**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the TT or the original book

**Where we left: **Raven entered to her room happier, BB surely knew how to make things better

**Now with the story…**

**Vive questo giorno come se sia stato vostro duri, perché non sapete mai se ci sarà domani**

**CHAPTER 14**

**: Next Day at Titans Tower:**

"No way."

"Aw, please Rae." Beast Boy pleaded "I haven't had the opportunity yet, please."

"Why now, why with me?"

"Why not? I've been waiting to do it since forever, Rae, you can't deny me this."

"Beast Boy, it's not a good idea to do it. It could cause trouble."

"No, it won't. I will be careful, I promise."

"I don't know." Raven answered unsure.

"C'mon Raven, I know you want to do it." BB teased.

"Of course I don't."

"Give it a try, this can work out." Beast Boy insisted, Raven sighed at his persistent ways.

"If I do it, can you promise nothing's gonna happen?"

"If I promise nothing's gonna happen, would you accept?"

"Beast Boy, this is not a game."

"I know it's not, I'm serious about this; I want to do it."

"Look, if you do it like Robin or Roy did, I'm going to kill you." Raven threatened.

"This will be better, but still, I promise you'll like it." BB assured. "Please?"

"Ok." Raven answered defeated "I'll do it."

"Great, you won't regret this."

"I hope I won't."

**Vive questo giorno come se sia stato vostro duri, perché non sapete mai se ci sarà domani**

**: A few minutes later with Raven and Beast Boy:**

"Oh yeah baby, that's what I'm talking about!" Beast Boy yelled happily.

"Didn't I ask you not to do it like Robin or Roy?" Asked Raven.

"Didn't I tell you I would be better?" Beast Boy retorted with his own smug question.

"You're driving like a mad man!" Raven yelled holding onto her seat as tight as she could.

"I'm a beast at the wheel!" BB screamed at the top of his lungs as he ignored yet another red light. Raven rolled her eyes, she was starting to regret her decision.

Beast Boy hadn't gotten a moped but he was allowed to have a car on one condition; he had to get the car and take care of it all by himself. The changeling went to search for a car immediately, but the only one he could get was the 'corpse' of an old car that was nothing more than the car's skeleton, it's basic frame. BB spent hours in his room learning as much as he could about cars and he managed to get for the car all the mechanical items it needed to go properly, unfortunately Beast Boy hadn't given himself enough time to arrange some minimal details; it didn't have seatbelts, he hadn't painted the car, the backseats were still in bad shape, the doors sometimes got stuck and the windshield wiper didn't work.

Raven didn't want to get in the car in the first place but when she finally did she regretted her answer, she was holding on for dear life to her seat and chanting her mantra as fast as she could for two reasons: 1) To calm herself down after seeing about ten cars come so close to her that she could almost feel them hit their car –which she was starting to think really happened- and 2) To be sure that, if she needed it, she could use her powers to stop the car before she and BB would reach their demise.

It was pretty obvious from the beginning they were talking about this, wasn't it?

"Beast Boy, slow down!" Raven yelled angrily at her fellow Titan.

"I'm just getting started Raven, we'll get to the movies quicker if I continue like this." Beast Boy defended himself.

"If you continue like this we'll never get to the movies alive. Slow down." Raven retorted.

"No." BB answered simply, turning a corner so fast that he almost mounted the sidewalk.

"Why haven't the police stopped us yet?" Raven wondered to herself, but Beast Boy answered anyway.

"'Cause this car is registered as a 'Titans mobile' so they will assume this is an emergency and won't get in the way."

"Beast Boy, slow down or I'll jump out of the car." Raven threatened.

"You wouldn't." Raven answered with a try-me look that caused Beast Boy to obey her. "Ok, ok. I'll slow down but just because I owe you this day."

"Thank you very much."

"So…" Beast Boy said after a moment of silence. "What's going on with you and Speedy?"

"He wants to be called Roy now, remember?" Raven said avoiding the question.

"Roy." BB repeated. "What's up with you two?"

"What do you mean?" Raven asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"I mean; you're always so worried about him and you go to the forest all the time just to see him. It's strange." BB explained.

"Of course I'm worried, he's our friend and I was making sure everything was ok." Raven replied.

"Are you sure that's all, Raven?" Beast Boy's tone was suspicious. "I get the feeling it's more than that."

"Like what?" Raven asked exasperated.

"Do you like Speedy?" The green Titan asked at last.

"Roy." Raven corrected again. "And 'like' in what way?"

"You know what I'm talking about Raven, are you making a move with Roy?"

"Roy's my friend, that is it" Raven looked out the window as she spoke. "I'm not thinking about having any romantic relationships for a while."

"It sure doesn't looks like it." Raven turned around to yell at BB but he continued. "It wouldn't be something bad, he has changed and I don't think it is for the worse. His arrogance has disappeared and now he seems more sincere and mature than the boy I remember from the last time he and his team were at the Tower. Maybe you could give it a try, just like you did with me and my B-car."

"When did you learn to express yourself like that?" Raven asked surprised at the way her teammate had just spoken, it had happened before but still; it was strange to hear him speak like that.

"You would be surprised at how much you can learn while watching Soap Operas with Star." BB grinned.

"Can I be honest with you?" Raven said with a sigh, she needed to talk to someone and she felt that this moment in time, here with Beast Boy was the right time to talk.

"Sure Rae." BB looked at her for a moment before look back at the road.

"I'm not sure."

"You can trust me Rae." BB repeated.

"No, I mean; I'm not sure about Roy." Raven explained.

"Oh, right." BB said sheepishly. "How do you feel about him?"

"I like being with him." Raven answered. "I like spending time with him; he's become a very nice guy. He's definitely more mature, and much nicer; but the way he acts towards Robin, that's new."

"Yeah dude, what's up with that?" BB asked. "They used to always act like best friends but now I think Starfire and her sister love each other more than those two"

"It would seem so." Raven agreed slightly amused.

"Are you going to visit Roy today?" Asked Beast Boy to his friend.

"I don't think so." Raven answered truthfully. "I'll go tomorrow but I think today I'll stay away from the forest, I would like to see if Roy is still ok though."

"Well, you'll have a lot of time to think about it because we're here" Beast Boy parked the car and it was then that Raven noted they had arrived at the movies. The place was almost empty and the weather was as cold as it was when they left the Tower, it was a good thing they decided to wear their winter clothes.

"We made it here alive." Raven muttered remembering how Beast Boy had started the ride there.

"Let's go and get the tickets." BB took Raven's arm and dragged her to the movie theatre's entrance to buy the tickets, people stared at them simply because it was strange to see the local heroes at the movies instead of the shopping mall or the pizza parlor like always; but they already knew Beast Boy and Raven were starting to get along very well.

**Vive questo giorno come se sia stato vostro duri, perché non sapete mai se ci sarà domani**

**: Back at the Tower:**

"Where are Raven and Beast Boy?" Asked Robin entering the common room after having spent the morning taking out his anger on the punching bag in his room.

"Didn't you know Rob?" Asked Cyborg turning from the TV to his leader.

"Obviously no." Robin replied with a roll of his eyes.

"Beast Boy changed the outing to the place for projection of feature films from yesterday to today because he did not complete his duties yesterday before the agreed hour, so now he and Raven are doing the hanging-out." Starfire answered also looking at her leader.

"And I wasn't informed because…" Robin trailed off with an eyebrow quirked waiting for someone to answer.

"Um, I don't know, maybe you weren't told because YOU HAVEN'T LEFT YOUR ROOM SINCE YESTERDAY AT DINNER?!?!" Cyborg answered.

"Hey, I had important things to attend to." Robin retorted.

"Yeah, whatever." Cyborg said. "They won't be back for another four hours, at least."

"Four hours?" Robin asked surprised. "Why is it going to take them so long?"

"Beast Boy is going to add a pizza to this outing." Cy answered.

"It sounds more like a date to me" Robin commented not a bit happy.

"Friend Robin, do not worry about it." Star said standing up. "Remember Beast Boy asked all of us to accompany him but Raven was the only one that accepted, they shall return here shortly."

Robin inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly before answering Starfire.

"I know they will, I'm going to take a shower and then I'll get some lunch." Cyborg and Starfire nodded and returned their attention to the T.V.

As Robin walked down the hallway he kept thinking about the way he was acting. It was something silly to act the way he was over Raven; they weren't together anymore and she had every right to see someone else. If that was right then what was wrong with him? He still loved Raven, that was what was wrong. Although, he shouldn't feel jealous of Beast Boy, they had both say that although they could be close friends they would never be comfortable with a romantic relationship between them, Robin still had his doubts. However, his experiences had taught him not to jump to conclusions until he had proof enough to confirm suspicions. Until now he had nothing against Beast Boy, but the changeling wasn't his only problem.

Roy, formerly known as Speedy.

What was happening with the archer? Was his change of attitude because of what happened not too long ago? That would be strange; Roy was a guy that knew how to confront troubles pretty well even when they hit deep down. Robin understood how Roy should have felt when it happened and definitely was something hard to bear, but after a week or so the Titan was up and back to work and his attitude was the same as it used to be. But then he found out about these trips to the forest of Otalu, if he remembered the name correctly, and his sudden neglect to the Titans and their duties. Eventually he stopped going back to his Tower and began ignoring the calls from his team, finally he quit he Titans and the hero he once was.

Then there was Raven and how she suddenly was so interested in the red haired boy; if Beast Boy wasn't a threat then Roy defiantly was one. Raven had been spending a lot of time with Roy and she liked spending time with him, he could tell, and it seemed as if both of them were starting to get too attached to the other one; it was dangerous. It was dangerous not because Roy was winning Raven over, but because Robin knew something was wrong; inside he could tell something was out of place and it was nothing good for him, Roy or anyone of his team, especially Raven.

Robin sighed, he would never convince Raven of something like that now that she was so attached to Roy and now that he had given everyone the impression that he despised Roy; they might turn against him and protect the ex-Titan without a second thought.

Suddenly Robin heard someone coming from the other end of the hallway. He turned around to see who it was but he was greeted with empty space. Then he heard a thump from the other side and turned so he could see who it was: Nothing.

"Who's there?" Robin called but he received no answer, he looked around and then he heard it again: It sounded like footsteps but they were very light, and it was more that one person –or thing- that was making those noises.

Robin then remembered their pet, Silkie, and how it had more than two legs; probably it was just him walking around the tower.

"I'm being paranoid." Robin said to himself before continuing on his way to the shower.

**THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!**

Robin jumped and positioned himself ready for the battle; those were three thumps and each one came from different sides: The first one from one end of the hallway, the second one from the other end and the last one from the ceiling.

"Who's there?" Robin called, louder this time, reaching for his utility belt ready to get any weapon he needed to fight with.

He stayed still for a minute but he heard nothing else. Slowly he relaxed until his arms were hanging at his sides again, but his eyes continued to rapidly scan the area, looking for someone, or something.

"I'm going to take a shower and then I'll ask Cyborg to check the security cameras." Robin said out loud, but before he could take a step he heard the same light footsteps and raced towards the end of the hallway ready to catch whoever was there making those sounds.

Robin took out his bo-staff from his belt and prepared to attack as soon as he turned the corner, but the only thing he found was air and doors.

"Forget the shower, I'm going to see Cyborg right now." Robin ran back to the common room still alert for any movement or sound which was out of place.

**Vive questo giorno come se sia stato vostro duri, perché non sapete mai se ci sarà domani**

**: With Raven and Beast Boy later that day:**

"I have to admit that veggie pizza was really good." Raven commented as she and Beast Boy walked out of the pizza parlor.

"Told you so." Beast Boy replied proudly. "And didn't I tell you the movie was going to be great too?"

"It was." Raven agreed. "It wasn't as scary as 'Wicked Scary'."

"No, actually it wasn't. Maybe we can get the others to come with us some other time."

"Do you think they'll accept?" Asked Raven as they neared BB's car.

"There's no problem in asking, don't you think?" Beast Boy looked ahead and his eyes widened just a little. "Hey, isn't that Roy?"

Raven looked up and saw a red haired boy walking towards them. He was wearing blue jeans and brown combat boots with a brown leather jacket she had seen before. The boy was wearing shades but that only made it easier for Raven to recognize him; his face was exactly the same as Roy's and so she knew it was him. Well, that, and the fact that at his side was none other than Smirks.

"Hey, Roy!" Called Beast Boy making Roy look at them. As soon as he saw them he smiled and walked towards them, Smirks decided to run and catch up with the two Titans before his master.

"Hey guys, what are you doing here?" Roy asked.

"We just had a pizza and saw a movie." BB answered. "I would have invited you but I haven't been at the forest since that last time and so I couldn't ask you."

"Don't worry Beast Boy, another time maybe." Roy assured "Where are the rest?"

"They didn't want to come, so it was just Raven and me." Beast Boy answered putting an arm around Raven's shoulders.

"And Robin didn't say a thing?" Roy asked surprised. "Wow, he has to be in a great mood today."

"Actually, he doesn't know anything about Beast Boy and me going out today." Raven said, joining in on the conversation.

"Then, you're going to be in trouble." Roy teased.

"I don't think so, he knew we were going out but he didn't know that we changed the day." Raven replied.

"Changed?" Roy raised an eyebrow.

"I forgot my duties yesterday and so we decided to come out today instead of yesterday." BB explained sheepishly.

"Then, are you like dating or something?" Asked the ex-Titan.

"Nope." BB shook his head. "But it wouldn't hurt to get to know each other better, would it?"

"I'm not sure if I want to know whether there was something hidden in that phrase." Roy said. "Anyway, I gotta go."

"Where are you going?" Asked Raven.

"I need to get more food." Roy answered simply.

"Do you need a ride?" Asked Beast Boy pointing to his car that was parked three cars away. Roy looked at it with some disgust.

"No thanks, I'd rather go walking with Smirks." Roy motioned to the dog that was being petted by Raven. "Maybe later."

"Yeah, tomorrow, or the day after that, or the day after that, or the day after that…" Raven slapped a hand over the changeling's mouth stopping him from going on, and on…

"Sure." Raven said with a little smile.

"Great, see you soon" Roy waved and started to walk away before turning back and looking at the titans, or more specifically, Raven. "Are you coming to the forest later?"

"I don't think so Roy, I have some thing to do." Raven felt bad for saying that, but she felt worse when Roy looked down. "But I'll go tomorrow, ok?"

"Sure." Roy seemed to recover very quickly. "I'll be waiting."

Raven and Roy gave a nod to each other before he continued on his way, Smirks at his side waggling his tail. Raven unclasped her hand from BB's mouth and he started to speak right away.

"You didn't let me ask him about his new clothes!"

"He isn't a titan Beast Boy, he doesn't need to use his uniform anymore." Raven explained walking towards the car.

"Ya know," Started BB. "He looked disappointed when you told him that you weren't going to the forest today."

"Because I'm the closest person he has since we discovered that he was in the Forest."

"I think it's more than that." BB said in a sing song voice.

"There is nothing more." Raven said with a glare, although she knew she wasn't sure about her own answer. "Let's go back to the Tower."

"Ok" The green Titan said defeated. "What did you like most about the movie?"

**Vive questo giorno come se sia stato vostro duri, perché non sapete mai se ci sarà domani**

**: At the Tower some minutes later:**

"Robin, I'm telling you man; there is nothing in this hallway."

"There has to be something Cyborg, how can you explain the fact that the security cameras of this and only this hallway were turned off just before I heard the noises?"

"Perhaps they were not properly connected."

"It's too much of a coincidence for that, Starfire."

"I agree with you on that." Cyborg said through his communicator as he checked the hallway where his room was. "But nothing else has happened since then, whoever or whatever entered here must be gone."

"But what if something was taken?" Robin replied checking the hallway he had heard the noises in.

"Nothing has been taken in any of the hallways the cameras were off, and there was no sign of someone in any other place inside or outside the tower." Star answered one hallway above Robin.

"We have to make sure everything is ok." Robin insisted.

"Listen, we can do that later Robin." Cyborg said. "I still need to have lunch and I bet Star is hungry too."

"Yes friend, I am hungry." Starfire agreed. "We will be alert if something strange happens, but we need to calm ourselves so our instincts cannot control our body and mind and make us do something we may regret."

"But-"

"Robin." Cyborg cut his leader off. "Drop it for the moment, if it happens again, we'll be ready."

"Ok." Robin said defeated. "I'll see you in the common room."

Robin closed his communicator and walked towards the elevator. He pushed the button and waited still wondering what the hell had happened earlier that day. When he and Cyborg checked the security videos they saw some of the cameras were off, and that all of them were disconnected at the same time and just in some hallways; normal? I don't think so.

**DING!**

Robin looked up and saw the elevator door's opening, letting him see two of his teammates inside.

"Raven, Beast Boy." Robin said with no emotion still deep in thought. Raven and Beast Boy stood there still knowing Robin greeted them out of habit and not really knowing what was he doing.

Robin was lost in though about what was the cause of the noises and everything else that happened, maybe it was a criminal? Maybe it was… Wait a minute!

"Raven, Beast Boy." Robin repeated a bit louder this time. "Where were you?"

"Out." Raven said simply not letting BB answer.

"Why wasn't I informed?" Robin continued.

"Because you didn't ask." Raven replied.

"Did you enjoy the outing?"

"Yes."

"Good, because I want to inform you about something important."

"I can't." Raven answered. "I need to meditate and do some other things in my room."

"Are they so important that you can't attend a team meeting?"

"You know me the best in here Robin, what do you think?"

Everyone stayed in silence until the elevator stopped with another 'ding' and the doors opened. BB got out and ran to the common room. Robin, however, got out and turned to Raven.

"If you see or hear anything strange try to catch whoever or whatever it is and call the team immediately, be careful." And with that the doors closed.

Raven continued on her way to her room thinking about what Robin had just said; strange noises? Were they the same noises she had heard the other day in her room, and the same Star had heard? Was it possible that someone was in the tower and playing with them ready to attack them at any moment? This was too much of a coincidence, but that was one of the reasons she was going to her room: She wanted to inspect the tower for any unknown presence and make sure everything was ok.

With one last 'ding' the elevator stopped again at the hallway where Raven's room was and she walked to her sanctuary.

Upon entering, she walked over to her bed, ignoring the puppet at her bed's feet, and started to meditate so she could get her powers to work properly for the search she was going to do later.

**Vive questo giorno come se sia stato vostro duri, perché non sapete mai se ci sarà domani**

**: Back in the Common Room:**

"Are you serious dude?" BB asked surprised after listening to Robin's story about earlier.

"Yeah, and it's important to be on alert at any strange successions in here." Robin answered.

"Count me in then, but I hope this isn't like the time when Raven's powers converted the Tower into a haunted house." BB shuddered at the memory.

"I don't think Raven is behind this." Robin said shaking his head. "But who or whatever is causing it surely knows how to do the job."

"What job?" Asked Star confused.

"Get in here without being detected and then confuse everyone." Answered the leader.

"Don't take this too seriously Robin, this umm… whatever it was probably ran away after we started to search for it. I'm going to check the security of the Tower after lunch and then we'll take the intruder down." Cyborg assured.

"Cyborg, make sure everything is ok with the security, I don't want anyone in danger." Robin said before going out of the room.

"Friend Cyborg?" Star asked slowly. "Can I tell you something?"

"Sure Star." Cyborg answered with a smile.

"These noises Robin said he had heard… I have heard them too."

"What?" Cyborg asked shocked. "When?"

"Yesterday before the dawn outside my door." Star answered. "Perhaps we should check the videos of security again?"

"Definitely. BB, you comin'?"

"I'm on my way dude."

**Vive questo giorno come se sia stato vostro duri, perché non sapete mai se ci sarà domani**

**: 9:00 p.m. in the Camera Room:**

"Nothing!" Cyborg said exasperated "Absolutely nothing."

"How were the cameras turned off and then turned on again but backwards?" Wondered Beast Boy aloud.

"No idea, it's freaky." Cyborg said.

"Should we inform Robin about this?" Asked Starfire also concerned at what had happened just yesterday outside her room and the hallway next to the one her room was in.

"Not yet." Cyborg answered shaking his head. "He'll freak out, if anything else happens then we'll tell him, ok?"

Starfire nodded and Beast Boy groaned.

"Dude, I'm hungry and tired of being in here. If you don't mind, I'm gonna go for a ride"

"But friend Beast Boy." Star started concerned. "It is raining outside, is a horrible storm with thunder and lighting; it is dangerous for you to drive in such conditions and this late at night."

"It's not so late Star, and I need to be out for a while." Beast Boy stood up and smiled reassuringly at his alien friend. "Don't worry, I'll be ok."

With that said he walked out of the room leaving Starfire and Cyborg to stare at the door through which he exited.

"Do you think he will be safe?" Asked Starfire.

"I'm sure he can handle himself Star, he knows how to do it." Although Cyborg was as nervous as his teammate he needed to look strong in front of her if he wanted her relaxed.

"Ok." Star answered with a sigh. "I wish to go to sleep now friend."

"Don't you want some dinner?"

"No, I am fine. Thank you friend Cyborg." Starfire floated some inches over the floor ready to leave the room. "Pleasant shlorvaks!"

"You too Star." Cyborg said. After Star was out the room he turned back to the screens with a serious face. "What's going on here?"

After about five minutes Cyborg decided to give up and activated the security system for the night before going back to his room to get some sleep; these facts had taken his appetite away.

**Vive questo giorno come se sia stato vostro duri, perché non sapete mai se ci sarà domani**

**: 1:00 a.m. in Raven's room:**

Raven tossed and turned in her bed feeling strange, she had her eyes closed but wasn't sleeping.

She had searched through the entire Tower for anything that wasn't supposed to be there but found nothing, not even a trace of the noises' cause. She had spent two hours doing it to be sure every little space in the tower had been checked but nothing was there besides her friends, some rats, and different kinds of insects, nothing else

That wasn't normal, but it wasn't the reason she was so worried; she was feeling something.

She had forgotten about the feeling the forest had woken inside her but that was not it, this was something else. She knew something was gong to happen –if it hadn't happened already- and that it wasn't finished: it was just the beginning.

Raven sighed and tried to relax herself repeating her mantra in her head; probably it was nothing.

**BANG! BANG!**

"Raven open up!" Raven sat up with a start at hearing Robin's voice from the other side of her door, he wasn't knocking, he was almost trying to take the door down with his fists.

"Friend Raven, this is urgent!" Now it was Starfire, her voice was cracked, what was making her cry?

"I'm coming" Raven called walking towards the door, still in her pants and long sleeved shirt.

When she opened her door she saw Starfire crying her eyes out and Robin with a concerned look on his face dressed in his uniform tights but with a long sleeved red shirt on, probably his sleeping clothes during this weather.

"What's wrong?"

"Raven, we received an urgent call-" Raven cut Robin off.

"Why didn't the alarm sounded?"

"Raven, it wasn't the police or any other robbery alarm." Robin answered calmly.

"Then what?" Raven was starting to get annoyed.

"Oh Raven, this is most disastrous!" Star said with more tears falling from her eyes.

"What is it?" Raven could have yelled if it wasn't for the fact Starfire was in such condition.

"Raven the hospital called." Robin started. "Beast Boy had a car accident."

Raven stayed silent eyes wide in shock, Robin continued sadly

"We've got to get there as soon as we can; the doctors say they'll do whatever they can."

"Let's go" Raven said summoning her cloak and putting it on, there was no time to loose.

**Vive questo giorno come se sia stato vostro duri, perché non sapete mai se ci sarà domani**

**Wow! 10 pages in the chapter by itself; without the notes or the recap or the reviews replies. My largest chapter in all my stories!**

**There was more terror in this chapter than in the last one, Raven starts to talk about her feelings and Beast Boy had an accident and is in the hospital! That's no good.**

**Anyway, things are started to get more interesting and soon there will be more.**

**The phrase says: **'Live this day as if it was your last, because you never know if there will be a tomorrow'

**Please review and see you as soon as I can!**


	16. Captilo quindici

**Hey guys! It has been soooo long, but I'm back again with the next chapter of this FF!**

**x.Babe.x: **I'm here, I'm glad you liked the past chapter and hope you like this one.

**Tuli-Susi: **I'm glad you liked the trailer, you just wait for more clues about the mystery.

**-xAmethystBlossom: **Anyone would be freaked out for those noises, don't you think? whispers back Let's see if I get a better offer for Raven to stay with Speedy, then we'll talk.

**Mizuki Ai: **There's more suspense coming, and yeah is kinda difficult to imagine BB on wheels but oh what the heck? And if you think they're acting like that know just wait to see the upcoming chapters.

**Ishii Sen Ling: **Now you can know what happened to BB, have a nice day you too.

**Liliac gurl: **Thanx!

**-.-Ice'-'Witchling-.-: **Thanx, that was the point.

**Thanx for the reviews guys, hope you enjoy the episode!**

**Osservi sempre intorno voi, voi mai non conoscono che cosa è di destra dietro voi.**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the TT or the original book

**Where we left: **"Beast Boy had a car accident." Raven stayed silent eyes wide in shock, Robin continued sadly "We've got to get to the Hospital as soon as we can; the doctors say they'll do whatever they can."

"Let's go" Raven said summoning her cloak and putting it on, there was no time to loose

**Now with the story…**

**Osservi sempre intorno voi, voi mai non conoscono che cosa è di destra dietro voi.**

**CHAPTER 15**

Everything was silent except for the beeping sound of the machine that signaled to everyone that the green Titan was still alive. Not a sound could be made, otherwise, Raven and Beast Boy would be mentally affected.

Robin, Cyborg and Starfire were in the room Beast Boy was being kept in along with a doctor and two nurses. This doctor was the most experienced one of the 3 that were attending to the hurt Titan when he arrived at the hospital; they could only clean up some wounds, but didn't want to do anything else until the Titans arrived because they knew Raven had special healing powers and, maybe, that was just what they needed.

The doctor had to accept that things weren't looking good at all: Beast Boy had too many broken bones and, probably, a dangerous concussion; trying to heal him using medicine could make everything worse. After the Hospital had called the Titans they could only wait, fortunately, they didn't have long to wait and they let Raven and the rest get into the room right away. They looked really concerned about their friend: Raven and Robin were still wearing their pyjamas, Starfire had puffy eyes because of her crying and Cyborg had lost the smile everyone was used to seeing him with.

The doctor and nurses were looking on in awe at Raven, her hands were glowing the same blue colour as that surrounding Beast Boy's body and the bones could be seen arranging themselves under his skin. Unfortunately, there was always something wrong, and this time that 'something' was that Raven was looking more and more tired as she continued healing her friend.

Raven herself was feeling pretty tired; she had used most of her power in the research she did back at the tower in the last day and she hadn't had enough rest to do something like this, but she was doing as much as she could. The job wasn't easy, the changeling had too many broken bones to even try to move, she had to admit she was surprised to see Beast Boy still alive after he had been moved from his crashed car to the hospital and then to this room. Until now she had repaired most of his body and head but she knew she couldn't keep healing him for much longer, the rest of Beast Boy's body had to heal by itself after she reached her limit. Fortunately the green teen had animal genes and it would help him to heal faster, that always happened with him.

Robin watched as his teammate worked on healing their friend, and he could also see that soon Raven would stop healing for her face looked more tired than concentrated, but it didn't matter, Beast Boy looked now like a human and not like the punching bag that was in his room. He was ready to help Raven if she needed it.

He didn't have to wait long, Raven's hands and Beast Boy's body stopped glowing and Raven started to stumble a little. Robin went to her side and put her arm around his shoulders while he put his arm around her waist, Raven was too tired to say or do anything. The rest of the people there went to Beast Boy's side and looked at him. Although most of his body looked perfect, half of his face was still swollen and he had a big scratch along his forehead; they would need to take some radiography to determine what had happened with his bones.

"Take him to the X-ray room now." The Doctor ordered to the nurses who nodded and disconnected Beast Boy before they took him to the x-ray room "Please, go back to the waiting room and I'll come and tell you how your friend is doing after we finish the studies we have to do."

"Thank you Doctor, we'll be waiting." Robin answered lifting Raven and starting on his way to the waiting room "C'mon guys."

The Titans went to the waiting room and seated themselves on the couches, Robin took Raven to the largest one and laid her there so she could sleep more comfortably and then went to the loveseat where Starfire was already seated, Cyborg was alone on another one.

"How could this happen?" Robin asked aloud.

"I told him that going out on such a night would be dangerous." Starfire said quietly feeling bad for not insisting her friend stayed earlier.

"You knew he was going out in the rain?" Robin asked looking at Starfire.

"Yeah, he told us after we spent the whole day checking the security videos." Cyborg answered "Nothing was there and we were tired, I know we should have stopped him but we didn't."

"Unbelievable." Robin muttered to himself "Beast Boy is hurt and that means we have only four Titans still available, Raven did as much as she could but I'm not sure how much it is."

The three Titans looked at their sleeping friend, she was really tired.

"I'm sure BB will be up and working pretty soon Rob, although, I'm not sure how he will react after he sees how bad he looks." Cyborg said trying to cheer his friends up, Star only smiled lightly and Robin didn't move his gaze from the floor, he knew it wasn't the time for jokes but they couldn't blame him for trying.

"Let's just wait." Said Robin after a moment of silence.

**Osservi sempre intorno voi, voi mai non conoscono che cosa è di destra dietro voi.**

**: 30 Minutes Later:**

"Titans." Cyborg, Robin and Starfire stood up as soon as they saw the doctor entering the room "I'm pleased to tell you that your friend will be all right."

"Great" The Titans breathed a sigh of relief.

"But I'm afraid that he'll have to stay here for observation for a couple of days so we can be sure everything will be all right." The doctor continued.

"Can't we take him back to the Tower?" Cyborg asked "We'll have him in our medical wing and take care of him."

"Not all of his bones are healed, we don't want to move him, and I think it would be better if he has 24-hour attention in case you need to get out of your Tower and save the day." The Doctor explained to the teenagers with all the seriousness a Doctor could have.

"We understand Doctor." Robin answered after a moment of silence "But we wish to stay here until Beast Boy wakes up."

"Yes please, I wish to be here when our dearest friend awakens." Starfire pleaded with her hands in front of her chest.

"You're allowed to stay seeing as you're our local heroes, but when he wakes up the rules will be applied to you as if you were civilians."

"Ok, it's a deal." Cyborg agreed with a nod.

"But I'm afraid you'll have to sleep on the couches in case any more patients arrive before Beast Boy wakes up, we'll need the beds." The Doctor said with a hint of remorse in his voice.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine. Thanks for everything Doctor." Robin thanked him with a nod, the doctor replied with one of his own before turning to walk away.

"Hey Doc," Cyborg called before the Doctor could go "What room is BB in?"

"You'll find him in the same room he was in when you arrived, a nurse will come to call you in case he wakes up." With that the Doctor walked away to check on other patients and give advise to the nurses about the situation.

"Ok Titans, let's get some sleep." Robin said heading to the coach Raven was sleeping on receiving questioning glances from his two other teammates.

Robin lifted Raven's head ever so slowly so she wouldn't wake up before sitting down on the couch and putting Raven's head on his lap so she could be more comfortable. Then he moved so he could rest his arm over the back of the couch and rest his head on it, all of this happened without him glancing or saying anything to his friends.

After a minute of standing there just watching their friends Cyborg and Starfire each went to a couch to try and get some sleep themselves. Star went to the loveseat and curled up in the fetal position using her folded arms as a pillow. Cyborg just rested against the back of the couch as comfortably as he could make himself, which wasn't very comfortable.

Robin stayed awake for about another half an hour just thinking about the last day and the beginning of this one. Things were becoming more and more weird as the days passed, and he couldn't help but feel that it had something to do with Speedy, because it was since Raven first saw Speedy in the forest that everything started to happen: The noises, Raven's strange attitude; something was definitely not right about all of this. He would need to talk with Speedy, or Roy as he called himself now, and discover what was happening to the boy he once knew; the one he was friends with.

Starfire had also been awake for sometime after they had supposedly gone to sleep, it was hard to admit it, but she couldn't understand why Robin still wanted to be with Raven if they had broken up a long time ago. Even after all of her ideas to try and win Robin over her efforts were futile. Raven didn't want to be with Robin and she showed it every time Robin tried to show the contrary, but the rejection didn't work, the alien was still in the dark and she feared that she would never reach the light she longed for; seeing how Robin was acting towards Raven at that very moment was enough for her to realize that Robin would never be with her. Starfire sighed and thought for another minute, maybe she only had to try a little harder. She couldn't hate Raven; they were too close for her to be able to do so, and the Tamaranians weren't known for their hate to anyone, but she could try and get Robin now that he was free… Still, something didn't feel right to her, perhaps she should talk to Raven and make sure she could make a move on Robin without hurting her friend. It was decided, she would talk to Raven once they were back at the Tower.

Cyborg, for his part didn't want to think about anything else but his friend's wellbeing and in discovering the mystery that was in hands, if the cameras didn't work then he'll have to try some new form of defense for the Tower.

Those were the last thoughts of the Titans before sleep took over.

**Osservi sempre intorno voi, voi mai non conoscono che cosa è di destra dietro voi.**

**: Later that morning:**

It was 10 in the morning and all the Titans were awake apart from Raven, who was still in a deep sleep. So far, they hadn't received any kind of news about their teammate, and visiting hours wouldn't start for another hour. Robin, Cyborg and Starfire were hungry and tired, but they didn't want to move until they could see Beast Boy awake and recovering.

After about ten minutes Raven stirred in her sleep and she opened her eyes, feeling her pillow strangely firm. As she turned her head to look upwards she was greeted by Robin's face, his hair was a bit messy and a very small smile was on his face.

"I'm glad you're awake, how are you feeling?" He asked as Raven sat up and moved away from him, it was weird to have her head on his lap after so much time, and also, their situation wasn't the best one.

"Still a little tired but I'm fine, how's Beast Boy?" She asked as she held her head trying to wake up all of her systems.

"He isn't awake yet, but the Doc said he was going to be alright." Cyborg answered with a little smile of his own to greet Raven, Star also smiled at her friend.

"Well, that's good news." The dark haired girl said with a sigh of relief "But that boy took a lot of energy away from me."

"Do you want anything to eat?" Asked Robin.

"No, thanks; I want to stay here and see Beast Boy awake." Raven answered truthfully.

"That is what all of us have been waiting for." Starfire spoke for the first time since Raven woke up "The Doctor said a nurse would come and tell us when our friend awakens, but no one has come to tell us anything since then."

"How long have I been out?"

"Not too long, just a few hours." Robin said to his ex.

"As soon as we return to the Tower I'll need to meditate for a long while." Raven muttered with another sigh.

"Titans." The four titans stood up as soon as they heard that word, a nurse was standing there with a little frown "Beast Boy is awake, although the visiting hours haven't started you may see him now."

"Is something wrong miss?" Asked Cyborg noticing the frown on the nurse's face.

"With your friend? There is nothing wrong, but he wants TV with cable, and now I have to ask someone to bring a TV and connect the cable." The nurse said exasperated.

"Thanks." Robin said before walking away towards the changeling's room with the rest following close behind.

Soon the four Titans arrived at their friend's room and Robin knocked on the door, soon he heard a response.

"Come in, and that TV better be the biggest one you could find."

"You just woke up and you're acting like a spoiled child already?" Asked Cyborg with a smile as he and the rest entered the room. BB looked to his side with some difficulty and tried to smile the best he could at his friends with his still swollen face.

"Guys, I'm so glad to see you!"

"Oh my dear friend, I would hug you to show my delight to see you awake and safe again, but I might hurt you with my strength. You are in no shape to receive hugs at the moment." Star commented as she watched his friend: his right eye was black and his forehead was bandaged, there was a cast covering his whole left arm and leg, and there was another one that reached to his right knee, for the final detail he had a neck support around his neck to prevent him from move it; and still he looked like the boy they used to know.

"Hey, I'm feeling good." BB answered still smiling.

"But you defiantly ain't looking good." Cyborg mocked with an amused smile.

"What do you mean?" BB asked with a suspicious look.

"Nothing." Raven answered before Cyborg could say anything else "You sure you're feeling ok?"

"Yeah, my arm and legs are a little heavy but at least I won't have to do any chores for a while." BB joked.

"But you won't be back in the Tower for a while either." Robin said.

"Huh? Why is that?"

"You're in no condition to be moved, you'll stay here for a couple of days just for observation." Robin explained.

"What?" The green teen yelled "But-"

"No buts; Doctor says, Titans obey." Robin interrupted "We don't want you in any danger, and it will be safer to keep you here to heal, we'll need you for missions so you better get completely healed ASAP."

"Please, what is this 'ASAP' you are talking about Robin?" Asked Starfire confused.

"It means 'as soon as possible' Star." Cyborg explained.

"Oh, then I agree with friend Robin, you shall heal ASAP!" Starfire exclaimed excitedly.

"I'll try Star, but then I also want a game-station." BB said.

"And how exactly are you planning to play if you can't hold the control?" Raven asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"Uhhh…" BB said feeling dumb "Then I want a DVD player with tons of movies."

"This is a hospital Beast Boy, not your bedroom." Robin said "Don't take advantage of your situation here."

"But this will be soooo boring." BB whined like a little child.

"It's your fault, why did you drive during a storm at night? Are you nuts?" Robin asked a little exasperated.

"I wanted to go out to the city after spending the whole afternoon checking the security videos." Beast Boy excused himself.

"Still, you shouldn't have done it; your car is way too dangerous to be driving through a storm." The leader continued.

"Besides," Raven started "How could you see if your windshield wiper didn't work?"

"Remember I have something like super vision 'cause I have animal genes." The changeling answered.

"And then how did you manage to crash?" Robin asked skeptically.

"I… I… I don't know."

"What?" Asked the Titans all together.

"I don't know, I was driving around the mountain, you know how we have to take that road to go to the city; and then, suddenly, there was lighting and a shadow and then… nothing." Beast Boy said as he remembered what had happened last night.

"Then, this wasn't an accident?" Asked Cyborg as shocked as the rest of the team.

"No, that shadow I saw is the one to blame." BB answered.

"What can you tell me about the shadow?" Robin asked already thinking about the possible ways for the accident to happen.

"It was black."

"And…" Robin pressed his friend to continue.

"It was big, around Robin's height." The injured Titan continued.

"Then it must have been a person, a teenager probably." Robin deduced, he also thought it would be a short adult but the first one was more likely.

"But why would someone jump in front of BB's car just like that?" Cyborg wondered aloud.

"I don't think it was a person, otherwise the Doctor would have told us." Raven said.

"Perhaps he did not wish to tell us because he thought it was none of our concern?" Starfire proposed with a finger on her chin, thinking.

"Maybe, but I don't think that's the case Star." Cyborg said.

"Did you notice anything else that could be of any help?" Robin asked the youngest Titan.

"No, I only saw the silhouette for a second. Maybe it was a different height but I'm almost 100 percent sure he was around your height." BB answered "Am I going to get punished for this?"

"I think you received more than you deserved, and you're still going to stay here for a while so I don't think I will; it wouldn't be human." The leader answered.

"Think you could give a better answer?" Raven asked Robin who didn't answer her question.

"We'll go to investigate the place you crashed at, but we're going to get something to eat first." Robin decided, he was so hungry he thought his stomach was going to eat his intestines.

"Agreed, I am also hungry." Star said rubbing her stomach.

"Yeah, we just wanted to make sure you were all right." Cyborg continued.

"Are you going to leave me here all alone?" BB asked with the best sad-puppy-eyes he could manage in his current condition.

"We have to Beast Boy, but just for a little while; we're going to the Tower to grab some lunch, a shower and then we're going to investigate, see if there's anything else we can find." Robin answered.

"We'll need to go to the police station; they probably took care of everything last night." Raven said to the rest.

"But we promise to be back after that." Starfire continued.

"But that will take too long, and I don't want to be alone." BB said almost pleading "I don't like hospitals."

"How about this," Cyborg started "Robin and I are going to go check the place you crashed at while Star and Rae come here and visit you, we'll come as soon as we're finished."

"I'd like that." BB answered still a little sad "Promise you won't take long?"

"Don't be such a baby, we'll be back soon." Raven said with a roll of her eyes, but Beast Boy knew she was pretending to be hard on him.

"All right… Can I ask you for a favor?"

"What is it?" Raven asked to her green friend.

"Could you bring me my comics, I wanna read them."

"You're going to have a TV here Beast Boy." Raven answered before anyone else could.

"But I need some other culture besides the TV." The changeling excused.

"We will bring them to you Beast Boy, if that is what you really want." Starfire said with a warm smile.

"Thanks guys." BB smiled as well.

"I ain't going into your room, man." Cyborg said with a disgusted expression on his face "But I'm glad you're ok, you made us all worried."

"I can see that, the birds are still in PJ's." BB joked making the two birds look at their outfits and then back at him with a glare that said 'it's-your-fault-we're-like-this-because-you-drove-through -a-storm-last-night-and-crashed', his smile disappeared and his tone became serious. "If you come back soon I promise I won't do it ever again."

"That's good enough for us." Robin said before smiling at his friend "I'm glad you're alive, let's go guys."

"See ya later man." Cyborg said following Robin out of the room.

"We will come to see you shortly friend, take care." Star said before exiting the room.

"Bye Beast Boy, don't ever scare us like that." Raven said as she started to make her way to the door.

"Raven." Beast Boy called making her look back at him "Are you going to see Roy today?"

This question took Raven off guard, her eyes widened a little before she looked at the floor thinking. She wanted to see Roy, but it was more important to be with Beast Boy at the moment.

"But I don't want to leave you alone." Raven decided to answer.

"I won't be alone, I'll be with Star." BB answered "Go with him, even if it's just for a few minutes; he likes to be with you and I think this is important to him."

"But…" Raven didn't know what to say at this point "What if Robin found out about this?"

"Since when does it matter to you?" BB asked "He doesn't have to know about this, and if he does find out you can always tell him you were telling him about me; the fact that Robin and him aren't friends anymore doesn't mean _I'm_ not Roy's friend."

Raven thought a little more about this, this would be a chance to see Roy and also she could tell him about BB; the changeling was right, Roy and he were still friends.

"All right, I'm going to see him later." Raven said with a nod, BB smiled at her.

"Raven." Raven turned to the door to find Robin there, she wondered how much he had heard "Are you coming?"

"Yeah, I'm coming." She walked to the door and glanced one last time at Beast Boy who winked at her signaling everything was ok.

"What were you guys talking about?" Robin asked as they walked down the hospital hallways.

"He asked me if I had healed him, I said 'yes' and he was thanking me." Raven lied, her face stayed emotionless so Robin couldn't tell she was lying.

"You did a great job back there Rae." Robin said resting a hand on her shoulder, he felt her stiffen at his touch and let go of her fearing she didn't want to be touched at the moment "Let's go, the rest are probably waiting for us in the T-car."

Raven didn't say anything but just nodded. She had stiffened under his touch not for the resentment she had for him before, but because she remembered how good she felt when she discovered she was resting on his lap and how comforting his hand felt. This was getting more and more confusing; just 2 two minutes ago she was eager to see Roy again alone in the Forest, and now she felt comfortable near Robin when a day ago she wanted nothing more than to be far away from him. She wondered what was happening to her.

**Osservi sempre intorno voi, voi mai non conoscono che cosa è di destra dietro voi.**

**OK, finished, like it? Please review and tell me what you think. **

**I found the name of the original book in English, is called 'The Carver' by Jenny Jones; only said it in case you wanted to read it.**

**The phrase says: **Always look around you, you never know what's right behind you

**Coming up next chapter:**

"I need to get going."

"No, please stay, just a little longer." Roy said as he grabbed her hand "I want you to, and I know you want to…"

/…/…/…/

"You've got to be joking." Cyborg said as he saw the front of the car.

"I don't want to believe it either but the evidence is clear." Robin said with a frown "As much as I hate to do this, I'll have to."

"What are you going to do Rob?"


	17. Capitolo sedici

**Hi everyone! The new chapter is here and I think this is where the story is ****actually getting interesting…**

**Moving Mountains: **Thanks, I'm glad you like the story.

**Teen-Titans-Raven: **Heh, heh, thanks. Hope you like this chapter.

**Lilac gurl: **Well, let's see how you like it.

**DataX: **None taken, I had to make him act a little harsh for the story could work. Thanx for the compliments.

**Ishii Sen Ling: **Thanx, hope you like this chapter.

**Serasvictoria666: **Hope you enjoy this chapter!

**x.Babe.x: **Updated, and who knows? Maybe this could be your day.

**Thanks for the reviews guys, hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Le sensibilità possono ingannare ma in modo da è la vita in se.**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the TT or the original book

**Where we left: **Raven had stiffened under Robin's touch not for the resentment she had for him before, but because she remembered how good she felt when she discovered she was resting on his lap and how comforting his hand felt. This was getting more and more confusing; just 2 two minutes ago she was eager to see Roy again alone in the Forest, and now she felt comfortable near Robin when a day ago she wanted nothing more than to be far away from him. She wondered what was happening to her.

**Now with the story…**

**Le sensibilità possono ingannare ma in modo da è la vita in se**

**CHAPTER 16**

**: Back ****at****the****Tower**

Raven was in her room putting her hooded jacket on leaving the hood down so her still damp hair could dry off completely. All the Titans had already bathed and were waiting for Cyborg to finish cooking their lunch; he had decided to prepare it for them.

The dark titan looked around her room trying to find the book she had left somewhere in there, she couldn't remember exactly where she had left it; she had just started it a few weeks ago and she wasn't about to stop reading it now that she had reached the climax.

Looking around her room she saw the mess that was her bed, she hadn't made it since she had arrived and it made her room look bad so she used her powers to make it. It took just a few seconds for the bed to be ready, and it was at that moment that she realized that the puppet Roy had given her was still on her bed, but there was something strange about it. She could have sworn it had been lying on its back the last time she had seen it, but now the lower part of its body was in a seated position while the upper part fell in between its spread legs and on the book she was looking for. The weirdest part of it all was that the book was open, and it was open on the fourth chapter whereas she had just reached the sixth chapter; it was as if the puppet had been reading it.

"I don't remember leaving my book there." Raven said aloud as if waiting for an answer, but, of course, she received none.

Raven walked to the bed slowly and carefully took the book letting the doll fall back onto the bed; its face was turned to the side so it seemed to be looking at her. The dark titan took a few steps backwards without looking away from the horrible doll, she had been through too much lately and she had forgotten about the puppet the redhead had given her, but now, looking into the empty holes that were its eyes, she remembered the feeling that had started everything; but since she had found Roy the strange feeling had gone away, as if finding her friend in there was just what she needed to feel comfortable with the forest once again. But looking at the puppet, it made her feel that something was not right. Unfortunately, she couldn't identify what it was.

**Knock! Knock! **

Raven almost jumped out of her skin when she heard the knock at her door, but she regained her composure just as quickly as she had lost it and walked to the door not looking back at the creepy object on her bed.

Opening the door she discovered it was Robin who had knocked, he spoke before she could say anything.

"Lunch is ready we're just waiting for you."

"Ok." Raven answered plainly exiting from her room and walking down the hallway towards the common room with Robin by her side. She decided to push that feeling of insecurity aside for the moment; she would try to see what she could find out later that day when she went to visit Roy.

The way to the common room was in complete silence; Raven was too occupied with her thoughts and Robin didn't want to bother her with a conversation. Soon they arrived to the common room where Cyborg and Starfire were already serving themselves.

"Hi Rae, you hungry?" Asked Cyborg looking up at them while filling his plate with bacon and eggs.

"Just a little, I'll join you after I prepare my morning tea." Raven said turning towards the kitchen to get the water boiling for her tea, however, before she could take a step, Starfire spoke.

"But Raven, your tea is already here." Raven looked back to the table and saw that, indeed, her mug was already on the table filled with the steaming brownish liquid she could recognize everywhere. The Azarathian girl made her way back to the table.

"Thanks Star."

"Oh, you should not thank me; friend Robin was the one who prepared it for you." Raven turned to look at Robin but found him looking down at his toast as if it was the most interesting thing in the whole world. Raven took the seat next to Starfire where her tea was and it was then that Robin looked up at her.

"Thanks for the tea Robin." Robin looked back down and grunted a 'You're welcome' before munching his toast. The rest of lunch was eaten in an awkward silence that none of the Titans dared to break.

After they had finished and everything was ready Starfire decided to go and fetch BB's comics as she had promised. Robin and Cyborg told them that they were going to investigate the crash and would join them at the Hospital once they were finished. After they had left with the T-car, Raven told Starfire that she would be waiting for her on the roof.

In no time Starfire arrived in Beast Boy's room ready to look for those comics her friend wanted to read.

"If I were friend Beast Boy, where would I leave my favorite colorful books?" The redhead wondered aloud looking around the room. As she walked further into the room she found them in a big pile next to the changeling's bed along with something else "I did not know Beast Boy kept such horrible things in his room."

Starfire took the wooden puppet that was sitting on her friend's comics and examined it being completely careful with the barbed wire that joined each joint; the face was expressionless and it had two holes where its eyes should have been, it was as big as that villain they had fought once. The red haired girl remembered the criminal's name: The Puppet King, and she also remembered that it was thanks to him that Raven and her had become closer than ever before; she wondered if that criminal had anything to do with this puppet but it wouldn't be possible because Argent had sent them a report a couple of weeks ago telling them that the Puppet King was now the favorite puppet of a British prison and she hadn't told them anything about the criminal escaping from there.

Starfire looked at the puppet a little more; it made her shudder so she looked away from the object in her hands, paying attention to the comics instead. The alien princess was surprised to find them tied with two thin ropes as if preventing them from falling to the floor.

Starfire took the comics by the knot that was on the top of the pile and returned her attention back to the doll in her hand.

"Perhaps this is friend Raven's doll and Beast Boy stole it from her room while she was not in there so he could play the joke on her." Star said aloud, it was the most logical explanation for the creepy thing to be in the changeling's room knowing that he liked to play with the gothic girl. "I shall take this back to Raven's room before she discovers it is missing."

The green eyed girl walked down the hallway towards Raven's room with the puppet in one hand and the comics in another. As much as she hated to keep secrets from her friends she would keep this as a secret so Raven wouldn't get mad at Beast Boy. She would ask Beast Boy about the puppet later.

Soon Starfire arrived at the other girl's room and opened the door. Starfire didn't want to go in there because Raven didn't like it when someone entered her room while she wasn't in there so she just put the puppet by the doorframe without glancing much around the room before making her way to the roof to meet Raven. If she hadn't been humming her favorite terrestrial song as she floated away she would have heard the hauling sounds coming from within the sorceress' room.

**Le sensibilità possono ingannare ma in modo da è la vita in se**

**: On the roof:**

Raven was waiting for Starfire to join her and decided to kill time by gazing over the water to the forest she knew Roy was in, probably entertaining himself trying not to think about his past life and making another puppet to hang from the trees' branches. She was going to tell Starfire that she would stop at the forest and tell Roy about Beast Boy and that she would join her as soon as she could.

The door of the roof opened and Starfire stepped out with the comics in hand, Raven raised an eyebrow at the neatly pilled comics.

"Beast Boy actually had his comics in order?" Starfire nodded but the girl seemed a bit nervous "What's wrong Star?"

"Raven, may I speak with you before our trip back to the hospital?"

"Sure, what is it?" Raven watched as the alien princess shifted her weight from one foot to the other nervously before taking a deep breath and starting to talk.

"I was wondering, do you still have the feelings for friend Robin?" Raven was taken aback by the question, it was actually a good question and she didn't have the answer for it. Everything stayed silent for a moment as Raven thought about it; finally, not knowing the answer, she decided to ask her own question.

"Why are you asking me that?"

"Well," Starfire started as she rubbed her left arm with her right hand, she was nervous and a bit ashamed "You know that I do have the feelings for friend Robin, but he does not have the feelings for me. He wants you and I think everyone knows that, but you do not seem interested in him anymore and I was wondering…"

Star trailed off not knowing how she could continue, but she didn't have to.

"You wanted to know if you can make a move on Robin." Starfire nodded silently, her eyes glued to the roof's floor "Don't worry about me Star."

Starfire looked up at her friend a little curious; her voice didn't contain the monotonous tone she was used to hearing from Raven, but simply a calm note. The dark Titan continued.

"If I have feelings for Robin or not, it shouldn't matter to you, you can try to get Robin; you have everything you need to win him over, you only have to use it."

"Are you sure about it?" Starfire asked still a bit unsure.

"Sure, you didn't have to ask at all." Raven assured her friend.

"But of course I had to; I had to ask you, I feared that maybe you would feel betrayed if I tried anything with Robin not knowing if you wanted to go back with him." Star explained.

"Star, I know you would never betray me. You respected my relationship with Robin when we were together and you never tried to get between us; now Robin is free and you don't have to hold back anymore." Raven spoke softly, something she rarely did after her break-up with the Boy Wonder "If you want him, go and try to get him."

Starfire smiled and couldn't help but give Raven the biggest and strongest hug she had ever given, making Raven feel her head could snap out of her neck and fall to the water that surrounded the Tower.

"Oh my friend, I am so glad you trust me so much!" Star let go of the other girl so she could look her straight in the eye "I am grateful for your kind words and now I shall try to be closer to Robin and see if he develops the feelings for me as he once did."

"Go ahead Star." Raven replied once she had recovered completely from the hug her friend had given her.

After a few seconds Raven spoke again.

"Um, Starfire, would you mind going alone to the Hospital?"

"Of course not friend, but why are you not coming with me?" The alien girl asked curiously.

"I promised Beast Boy that I would inform Roy about him being in the Hospital." Raven explained briefly levitating a few inches from the floor.

"Then I shall join you on your trip to the forest." Star said excitedly floating beside Raven.

"No, you better go back to Beast Boy. I'll join you shortly, don't worry." Raven then handed her book to Starfire "Can you take this with you? I want to read it once I get to the Hospital."

"Of course, I shall see you later." Starfire said flying to the city.

"Later." Raven replied levitating to the forest without looking back.

It wasn't until Raven was out of Starfire's view that the alien princess realized something: Raven never told her if she still had feelings for Robin.

**Le sensibilità possono ingannare ma in modo da è la vita in se**

**: With Raven:**

Raven levitated all the way to the forest and to Roy's domain. She decided to advise the redhead about her presence instead of just appearing before him so she levitated to the wall Roy used as a door and knocked. She waited for a few seconds before the wall started to move. Roy appeared before her with the same clothes she had seen him wearing the day before.

Roy smiled as soon as he saw who it was.

"Raven, I'm so glad to see you." Roy moved to the side letting Raven into his 'room'.

"Hi Roy, how are you doing?" Asked the girl looking around the room; there were even more puppets than she thought there would be.

As soon as he saw the girl Smirks jumped from the bed and ran to greet her wagging his tail. Raven could have sworn his expression was more of a smile than a smirk. Raven petted the dog on the head happy to see the dog as happy as ever.

"I thought you weren't going to come today." Raven looked at him with a quizzical expression so he continued "You usually come here earlier."

"Something happened Roy." Raven started "Beast Boy is hospitalized."

"What?" Roy asked astonished "How? What happened?"

"He crashed." Raven answered "Yesterday night he decided to go to the city but something distracted him and he crashed."

"How is he?" Asked the boy concerned.

"He was almost dying when we arrived at the Hospital, I used my healing powers on him and now he's fine." Raven replied "He will have to stay at the Hospital for observation though."

"At least he will be fine." Roy released a relieved sigh "How long will he have to stay at the Hospital?"

"I don't know, the Doctor didn't tell us." The girl said shaking her head.

"I just hope he doesn't need to stay there for too long." Roy said.

"I'm on my way to see him, wanna come with me?" The ex-Titan shook his head.

"I hate Hospitals; they bring back bad memories." Raven lowered her head; she knew what he was talking about.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Roy said in a low voice, a pained one "It wasn't your fault."

"But still, I can imagine how you feel." Raven said looking back at the boy before her; he had his shades on so she couldn't see his eyes.

"But it's better not to think about it, I feel bad enough with knowing it happened; I don't need anyone to remind me of it." Roy walked closer to Raven and took both of her hands in his "But I've been feeling alone ever since then."

"Roy, you have friends who care about you; you're never alone." Raven assured squeezing his hands a little.

Then Roy surprised her by throwing his arms around her neck and hugging her close to him whispering a 'Thank You' into her hair. Raven stayed still for a few seconds before, awkwardly, returning the embrace, rounding his waist with her arms. They stayed like that until she felt Roy relaxing again, he hadn't cried but she could feel he was very tense; now she felt as if he had calmed down enough to let him go and so she did.

"Roy if you ever need me, just call me and I'll be there." Raven promised as they separated from each other completely.

"I'm glad you're with me Raven, it makes me feel as I have never felt before." Raven stayed silent; Robin had told her the same thing when she had accepted the offer to be his girlfriend. But the redhead couldn't mean what he said the same way Robin had meant it, right?

Raven now felt weird being alone with Roy so she decided it was better to leave.

"I need to get going."

"No, please stay, just a little longer." Roy said as he grabbed her hand "I want you to, and I know you want to…"

"But I promised Beast Boy I would go to see him." Raven said turning to the red haired boy and she almost gasped; he had taken off his shades and now she was looking straight into the most dazzling hazel eyes she had ever seen and they were pleading her.

"I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you are a little late." Roy said taking Raven's other hand, Raven felt the shades in his hand.

"I'm not supposed to be here, we could get in trouble." Raven said a little nervous.

"No one will ever know about this. Please, just a little longer." Roy pleaded getting even closer to Raven, she could feel his breathe on her face.

"But-" Raven stopped talking when she felt Roy brushing his lips lightly against hers.

The feeling of his lips made something stir inside of Raven and made her do something she never thought she would do: She leaned forward responding to Roy's actions and pushing her lips firmly against his enjoying the feeling of their first shared kiss.

Raven moved her hands to his neck while he moved his hands to her waist making the kiss more passionate. Raven felt him lick her lips asking for entrance which she conceded; doing this Raven found out that he had had apples for breakfast.

**Le sensibilità possono ingannare ma in modo da è la vita in se**

**: With Robin and Cyborg:**

"Cyborg, why were you checking the security videos last night?" Robin asked to the robotic Titan after remembering what Beast Boy had been doing before his accident.

"I told you I would check them again after lunch, didn't I?" Cyborg answered without taking his eyes away from the road.

"But why were you checking them so late at night, if there wasn't anything on the tapes it shouldn't have taken more than an hour to finish the research." Robin sounded suspicious and that was a tone Cyborg didn't like to hear from his leader.

"We were checking videos from two days ago too, we wanted to make sure this thing that you heard yesterday hadn't been in our Tower for more than a day, if that was the case then it would be dangerous for the team." Cyborg explained, it was almost the complete truth.

"And did you find anything?" Asked Robin, his teammate shook his head.

"Nothing at all Rob, I think nothing has been touched in our Tower. Possibly the intruder entered yesterday and ran away when they heard us looking for them." Now Cyborg knew he was lying to his leader, but he didn't want to say anything to Robin about the strange happenings Starfire had told him about until he knew what was going on in his home.

"Ok, but if you find anything at all inform me immediately." Robin ordered and Cy nodded, at least his leader had bought his story.

The two Titans were on their way to the place BB had crashed at and Cyborg had been hoping Robin wouldn't question him about the videos but at least he had controlled the situation pretty well. They had just left the police station where a cop had told them that they had found something there but they couldn't tell what had happened exactly so there was still a group of officers at the place investigating the case.

Soon the boys arrived at the site in time to see many officers surrounding it, but they saw that there was a group of officers surrounding the front of the crashed car not letting the Titans see anything.

"Excuse me." Robin called to one officer "What's going on there?"

The officer looked at the car where the Titan was pointing and then looked back at him.

"They're there because we found out what made Beast Boy crash, or that's what we think."

At this both Titans made their way to the car and moved the officers away, and then they stayed there in shock.

"You've got to be joking." Cyborg said as he saw the front of the car.

"I don't want to believe it either but the evidence is clear." Robin said with a frown "As much as I hate to do this, I'll have to."

"What are you going to do Rob?"

"I'm going for a little nature hike." Robin answered calling his R-cycle with his special control. Cyborg didn't say a thing as he looked back at the front of the car, as much as he hated to admit it he was starting to think the same thing Robin was thinking about the accident's cause.

"Did he find anything or something?" Asked one of the cops as he watched the R-cycle arrive at the place.

"Maybe, but we can't be sure of anything yet so I'll stay to investigate a little longer." The cop nodded and left to join his teammates near the side of the site to see if they could find anything else. Cyborg let out a long sigh "I hope this isn't as it seems."

**Le sensibilità possono ingannare ma in modo da è la vita in se**

**: With Starfire:**

The alien princess had arrived at the Hospital and was now outside Beast Boy's room knocking on the door.

"Come in!" Starfire entered the room after receiving the permission from her friend to go in.

"I am back friend!" Said Star with a big smile bending over the changeling so he could see her face without straining his neck.

"Star! I'm glad to see you!" BB exclaimed happily "Where are the rest?"

"Robin and Cyborg are with the police investigating the accident and Raven went to tell friend Spe- I mean Roy that you were being held here." Star explained.

"So she went to the forest after all." Beast Boy muttered to himself.

"Did you say something friend?" Asked Star not hearing what the green teen had said before.

"Nothing Star." BB lied smiling innocently "Did you bring my comics?"

"Oh yes, I have them here with me." Starfire said raising the comics so the boy could see them.

"Cool! I thought it would be difficult for you to find them." BB commented as he eyed the big pile of comics surprised by the fact that someone had bothered to tie them up so they wouldn't get lost.

"Not at all." Starfire assured putting the pile back down on the floor "But I have a question."

"What is it Star?" BB asked turning off the TV which he had received about half an hour ago.

"Why did you invade Raven's room?" BB looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"What do you mean Star?"

"I found something in your room that looked like the kind of things friend Raven likes to keep." Starfire explained making BB even more confused.

"Star, I didn't take any of Raven's things; her stuff creeps me out, it's spooky." The changeling almost shuddered at the thought of Raven's things. Besides he had promised to the rest and to himself that he would never enter Raven's room ever again after that window incident a couple of months ago.

"But then why did you have Raven's doll in your room?" Now Star was also confused.

"What are you talking about? I don't have any doll, much less Raven's doll… Does Raven even have dolls?" BB asked totally lost.

"It was more like a puppet." Star said gaining BB's attention 100 percent.

"How did that puppet look?" Star put a finger on her chin thinking back to the puppet.

"It had an expressionless face, two holes instead of its eyes and metal straps with spikes in each joint." BB's eyes widened.

"Star, that thing wasn't mine."

"I thought it was Raven's, was it not?" BB tried to shake his head but when he remembered he couldn't he spoke again.

"Those puppets are made by Roy and he hangs them from the branches of the trees in the forest."

"But then what was one doing inside our home?" Star and BB looked at each other, both with no answer about the strange puppet the girl had found in her friend's room.

**Le sensibilità possono ingannare ma in modo da è la vita in se**

**Today's phrase says: **'Feelings may be deceiving but so is life itself.'

**Well, did you like it? Do you want me to continue?**

**If you want me to continue please leave your reviews, and if I continue…**

**Coming up next chapter:**

"What do you want Robin?" Asked Roy exasperated.

"Don't play dumb with me." Robin replied completely serious "I want explanations, and I want them now."

/…/…/…/

"Hello, is anyone in there?" BB knew that voice, but he couldn't remember from where.

"Yeah, come in." The door opened and he heard someone walking towards him… but it wasn't just one person.

"Hello there Beast Boy."


	18. Capitolo diciassette

**I'm back with a new chapter guys! Hope you like it.**

**x.Babe.x: **Funny review, you got the fluff you asked me so much for and things are getting more complicated by the second. You just wait.

**Maligno13: **Hope you like this chapter.

**Liliac gurl: **Lol, well, he was the one who suggested her to go.

**Serasvictoria666: **More things are going to happen, you just wait.

**Ishii Sen Ling: **Thank you very much!

**Karen Houston (anon): **Here's the update.

**Thanks for the reviews guys!**

**La fiducia nessuno, crede in niente; tutto e tutto nascondono la verità dal mondo.**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the TT or the original book

**Where we left: **"Those puppets are made by Roy and he hangs them from the branches of the trees in the forest."

"But then what was one doing inside our home?" Star and BB looked at each other, both with no answer about the strange puppet the girl had found in her friend's room.

**Now with the story…**

**La fiducia nessuno, crede in niente; tutto e tutto nascondono la verità dal mondo.**

**Chapter**** 17**

**With****Robin**

Robin took off his helmet and put it on the bike's seat; he was just outside the Forest ready to continue his investigation regarding Beast Boy's crash. He had to find out if his suspicions were true but it was the most logical explanation considering the evidence the police had found. The Titan leader walked into the Forest still deep in thought; and if his suspicions were true what would he do? He hadn't thought about it before; what would be the right thing to do?

Robin continued to ponder about it until he reached the trellis he remembered was before the lake, but something was different; he could have sworn the trellis was located farther from the lake than where it was now. The last time he had come here, the only thing he could see when looking through the trellis were more trees but now he could see the lake perfectly. Robin looked down trying to see if there was any kind of trail but he saw none; the storm had made the floor muddy and so it was impossible to tell if it had been moved or if the trees had been cut. Jumping over the trellis he looked at the trees around, they were perfect and complete; the only thing that didn't look right was the fact that there were plenty of puppets hanging from the branches.

The masked Titan didn't pay them much attention and continued his quest. Going deeper and deeper into the Forest he soon could see the black metal sheet the ex-Titan used like a wall; it was partially open so he was able to let himself in. Before long, he found himself standing just before the wall, ever so quietly he peeked into Roy's camp ready for anythi- What the hell?!?!

**La fiducia nessuno, crede in niente; tutto e tutto nascondono la verità dal mondo.**

**: With Cyborg: **

"Star? Cyborg calling Star. You there?"

"_I am here, is something the matter?"_Cyborg heard his friend reply through the communicator in his arm, he decided to use only the sound instead of sound and image.

"Nothing Star, I just wanted to know how BB was doing."

"_I'm right here!" _Cy heard BB's voice through the communicator _"Dude, where are you?"_

"I'm at the site of the accident, I have investigated as much as I could but I can't tell exactly what happened last night." Cyborg answered while walking back to the T-car to rest a bit "I'll be back with you as soon as I talk to Robin."

"_Where is Robin?" _Starfire asked this time.

"He's trying to get more clues about the accident, he went to the Forest." Cyborg said hopping they wouldn't ask anything about it, he then noticed someone seemed to be lost in the conversation "Where's Raven?"

"_She needed to go to the bathroom."_ He heard BB yell, the changeling's voice sounded as if he was lying, but maybe it was just his imagination _"When nature calls you can't do anything to stop it."_

"Yeah, I know" Cyborg said hoping his friends would say some other thing about a lighter subject, when they didn't, he hesitantly continued "Listen, we think we know what happened to you; this wasn't an accident BB, someone planned this."

"_WHAT?" _Cyborg winced at the loudness of his friends' voices, but that was to be expected. Starfire continued _"But who could be so cruel as to try and hurt our friend?"_

"I can't explain this at the moment, I'll tell you everything once I get back to the Hospital." Cyborg replied with a sigh "I'll give one more round around the place and then I'll try to locate Robin, I'll call you on my way to the Hospital."

"_Very well friend, we will be waiting." _The metallic Titan could hear some fear coming from the alien princess' voice, that was what he didn't want to hear; it made everything more difficult for him. Again he prayed for their suspicions to be incorrect, it just didn't make any sense.

"Bye Star." Cyborg looked up at the sky and sighed again; what would happen when the rest discovered what they had found.

**La fiducia nessuno, crede in niente; tutto e tutto nascondono la verità dal mondo.**

**: At the Hospital:**

"SOMEONE TRIED TO KILL ME!" BB wasn't taking the news too well "BUT WHO? EVERYBODY LOVES ME! WHY WOULD SOMEONE WANT TO HURT ME?"

"Friend, you must calm down." Star said while resting a hand on the changeling's shoulder "It must have been some villain who wanted to hurt you so you wouldn't be able to fight alongside us."

"Yeah, that must have been it. The villains are jealous of my good looks and they tried to make me look ugly, I'm also very strong; I bet it was Adonis who wanted revenge from that time we became those were-beasts… Or Control Freak from that time I beat him with the Hop Joon Kang... … Or, or Cardiac from the time I defeated him while fighting the Brotherhood of Evil… I know, it was Madame Rouge! No, it was Mumbo; he must have escaped from prison!"

"Beast Boy, please stop!" Starfire yelled quieting her fellow Titan "Most of those villains are frozen and we haven't heard anything from the non-frozen villains for a long time and Mumbo is still in jail. Please just calm down, our friends will be back soon and they will explain everything to us."

"Ok, ok, I'll calm down." BB said taking a deep breath and relaxing his muscles "Wait a minute!"

Starfire jumped at the sudden yell from her friend, he had attempted to sit up but it only made his body hurt. Starfire put her hand on the green teen's chest trying to calm him down once again.

"Is something wrong friend?"

"Where did Cyborg say Robin had gone to investigate?" BB asked fearfully.

"To the forest, why…?" Starfire trailed off, the revelation sunk into her. If Robin was in the forest at that moment and Raven wasn't in the Hospital yet and Roy was still in the Forest that meant…

"Uh-oh."

**La fiducia nessuno, crede in niente; tutto e tutto nascondono la verità dal mondo.**

**: Back with Robin:**

"What are you doing?" Asked Robin once he was completely inside the made-up camp.

"Robin?" Roy asked surprised to see someone else there "What are you doing here?"

"I asked first." Robin retorted walking to stand before the redhead "How did that happen?"

"It's none of your concern."

"How did that happen?" Robin repeated the question ignoring Roy's retort.

"That's not important."

"I'm serious, I want to know what happened to your stomach." Roy sighed and looked down at the big scars on his stomach; most of them were completely healed, others were still healing but they were there completely visible over the boy's toned muscles. It was obvious they were made with some sort of sharp object and it was also obvious those slashes weren't an accident.

"Robin, you can ask as many times as you wish, but I'm not going to answer." Robin glared at the other boy for a moment before sighing.

"You shouldn't be going around without your shirt on a day like this one."

"I'll survive, and I was just changing from my other shirt to a cleaner one." Ok, so that explained why the redhead was topless on a day as chilly as that one. Robin shook his head and decided to investigate about the scars later.

"Where's your dog?"

"Playing in the Forest." Answered Roy as he slid a new orange shirt on and then putting his brown leather jacket on too.

"Beast Boy had a car accident yesterday." Robin commented trying to start an interrogation.

"Really?" Asked Roy acting dumb, he didn't want Raven to get into trouble because of him "What happened?"

"As if you didn't know." Roy started to worry, did Robin know about Raven visiting him that day?

"What do you mean?"

Robin crossed his arms over his chest and looked directly at the former Titan not saying a word, he just stayed still like a statue; Roy could barely tell if he was still breathing. Returning the glare both boys stayed staring at the other one waiting for something to happen. Neither of them knew how long they had been standing there but they didn't really care, it was now a staring contest between them. After a few minutes Roy decided that it was enough.

"What do you want Robin?" Asked Roy exasperated.

"Don't play dumb with me." Robin replied completely serious "I want answers, and I want them now."

"Answers to what?" The redhead asked quizzically.

"You wanna know what we found crashed against Beast Boy's windshield?" Robin asked irritated, after a moment of silence Robin decided to give the other boy an answer "One of your teenager-sized puppets, and it had one of your arrows stuck to its back; it went all the way through it."

"What?" Robin saw astonishment written all over the former Titan's face, but that didn't change the facts.

"The top of the arrow broke through the windshield; if you want to see it for yourself you can go and check it out; nothing has been moved." Robin continued.

"You mean, you think I was the one who hurt Beast Boy?" Roy asked in a surprised tone "Are you taking me to the authorities?"

"No," Robin answered with an emotionless voice "At least not yet; I need to know why you did it."

"I didn't do it Robin, I would never hurt him or any of my friends." Roy assured holding his hands up in defense.

"But it was one of your arrows: It had S's written along the arrow's body and no-one knows about that except for the Titans. The arrow was authentic." Robin continued and Roy couldn't believe the black-haired boy could actually think he had tried to hurt Beast Boy.

"What do I have to do to prove I didn't do it?"

"You were here all day yesterday and you still keep your arrows." Robin said motioning to the group of arrows leaning against the nightstand next to Roy's bow, the masked teen continued "I don't think some invisible guy just decided to come and steal one of your arrows to use it against Beast Boy along with one of those puppets you make. That's not likely to happen."

"Robin, I didn't do it." Roy repeated "I wouldn't do it."

"Then tell me who did it." Robin insisted "Does someone else have these kinds of arrows besides you?"

"Someone must have stolen it from my place." Roy proposed "It could have been anyone... And now that I think about it, I did leave the Forest yesterday; I went out to buy some groceries I needed. You can ask Raven and Beast Boy if you don't believe me; I ran into them yesterday."

"And you can be sure I'll ask them." Robin assured before giving a little sigh "Look, if what you're telling me is true then we'll need to investigate around here. We have to find out who did this."

"I'll try to help in any way I can." Roy said decided "I'm not a Titan but if someone wanted to incriminate me then I shall show them no-one messes with me."

"You don't have to do that." Robin didn't want the redhead near them while investigating; he still had suspicions about him and it would be better if Roy was left alone; maybe they could find something useful; something that could tell him if Roy had been the one attempting against Beast Boy's life or not.

"But I want to; what if this guy attacks Raven? Or Cyborg? Or Star? Even you are in danger and I don't want someone else to get hurt. Besides, they are using my things to do it, and that's something I won't accept." Roy replied making clear his decision had been made.

"Ok, if you want to help you can come with me back to the hospital." Robin proposed "We'll discuss this case there."

"Forget it, I won't get near the Hospital." Robin was surprised at Roy's answer but let him continue "I'll investigate around the forest while you do the rest; if you find anything please inform me immediately and I'll do the same if I find anything."

"But it'll be better if we all discus this together." Robin insisted.

"I'm going to help with the investigation but I'm not going near the Hospital or the Tower anytime soon, understood?"

"You really wish to forget everything about your past, don't you?" Roy looked at the floor answering silently to Robin's question "If you're really that worried about my team then we'll keep you informed about the case, I need you to keep your communicator working just until this whole ordeal is over."

"I'll do it." Roy assured and watched as Robin turned around and started walking towards the exit "Please tell BB I hope he gets well soon."

Robin nodded without stopping and then went out the metal sheet. It was at that moment that Smirks decided to come back. The dog walked towards his owner and let Roy pet him so as to try to calm his nerves down.

"Raven has perfect timing; Robin almost discovered it." Roy let out a deep sigh and looked up at the metal sheet while moving his free hand to his pocket to retrieve his knife "He almost did."

**La fiducia nessuno, crede in niente; tutto e tutto nascondono la verità dal mondo.**

**: Back at the Hospital:**

"Can I come in?"

Starfire looked up and smiled at the newcomer.

"Oh my friend, I am so glad you are here!" Raven smiled and walked to stand next to the bed so the changeling could see her, the green teen smiled up at her.

"Hey Rae, I almost thought Robin had seen you and Roy together."

"Robin?" Raven asked quizzically "What is Robin doing in the Forest?"

"Friend Cyborg called a moment ago; Robin went to the Forest to investigate some clues." Starfire explained with her hands neatly folded in her lap.

"What did they find?" The Goth girl asked interested.

"He didn't tell us." BB answered "He said he couldn't explain the details through the communicator; I hope they come back soon… Cy said the accident was planned."

Raven's eyes widened in surprise, planned? Who could have tried to kill Beast Boy and why? It didn't make any sense unless the one who had done it was a villain, but how could they know about BB's outing; the outing had been spontaneous and on a very stormy night. It was something un-predictable.

"You have got to be joking." Raven muttered to herself.

"We are now waiting for Cyborg's call, he said he would call us on his way here after talking with Robin." Star continued.

"He didn't tell you anything else about the accident?" Raven asked her friends.

"Nothing." Beast Boy answered with a sad sigh.

"Well, don't worry Beast Boy." The dark girl started resting a reassuring hand on her friend's shoulder being very careful not to hurt him "We'll find the one who did this to you, I promise."

"I'd love to help you, but I can't… I feel like a wimp." Starfire shook her head furiously and rested her own hand on her friend's other shoulder.

"You are speaking no sense; Cyborg has already explained to me the meaning of such a term and you are most definitely not a specimen of the wimp." Beast Boy stared up at her; he had understood her but her way of expressing herself was still too elaborated.

"Thanks Star." Starfire gave him one of her bright smiles and then turned to Raven.

"Raven, I wish to get a drink; would you mind accompanying me?"

"Not at all Starfire, I'm a bit thirsty myself."

"Are you going to leave me again?" Whined BB "I don't wanna be alone."

"We're just going to the cafeteria for a drink, it won't take long." The purple-eyed girl assured "We'll be back in a minute."

The changeling sighed but let them go, turning the TV back on. After a few seconds he started to think about his accident, who would possibly want to kill him?

**La fiducia nessuno, crede in niente; tutto e tutto nascondono la verità dal mondo.**

**: With Cyborg:**

"Cyborg calling Robin! Come in!" Some static appeared on the car's screen before it was replaced with Robin's face.

"_Robin here."_

"I'm on my way to the Hospital. What happened with Roy?" Robin had his helmet on so he supposed he had been on his way back to the crime scene.

"_Nothing definite, there's the possibility that someone tried to incriminate him." _Cyborg raised an eyebrow at the revelation _"We'll need to investigate deeper into this case; I'll see you at the Hospital so we can discus this. Anything new with Beast Boy?" _Cyborg smiled before answering.

"He's fine and he will be receiving some new visitors today."

**La fiducia nessuno, crede in niente; tutto e tutto nascondono la verità dal mondo.**

**: With Beast Boy:**

**KNOCK! KNOCK!**

The green Titan was brought back from his thoughts by a knock at the door.

"Hello, is anyone in there?" BB knew that voice, but he couldn't remember from where.

"Yeah, come in." The door opened and he heard someone walking towards him… but it wasn't just one person.

"Hello there Beast Boy."

"Bumblebee! Aqua-dude!" Indeed, both Titans East members were standing over him smiling, happy to see him alive.

"Hi BB, how are you feeling?" Asked Aqualad looking the changeling over, he never thought he would see the lively boy like this; practically mummified.

"I'm not crying but I don't like being like this; it's so boring." Beast Boy answered pouting.

"Poor you." Bee said playfully while ruffling BB's hair softly "Look, the twins sent you this."

Bumblebee handed him a card. The twins had obviously made it themselves; it was a sheet of paper folded in half colored with red and white, on the front it had a cartoon of Beast Boy and on the back it had painted plus and minus signs. Beast Boy opened the card to find a golden heart with 'Mejórate Pronto' written over it in black. BB could understand the message; it said 'Get well soon', the changeling couldn't help but smile at the nice gift.

"Where are the little dudes anyways?" He asked finally.

"They couldn't come; someone needed to stay back and watch over the city." Bumblebee answered.

"Ok then, this is still a nice detail." BB said handing the card back to the winged girl who put it on the nightstand next to the bed.

"Beast Boy," Aqualad started with a curious and thoughtful expression "How did this happen? When Cyborg called us this morning he didn't explain anything to us."

"I really don't want to talk about it." The questioned teen answered not making eye contact with either of the other Titans "Ask someone from my team."

"Where are they anyway?" Bee asked after a minute of silence.

"The girls went for a drink and Cyborg and Robin are on their way back from investigating the incident."

"Do you know if they found anything?" The Atlantian asked this time.

"I know nothing yet." BB lied; he didn't want to worry his friends just yet "You'll have to wait for the others to arrive."

"Oh well, in the meantime… Why don't you tell us how are things going in your Tower?" Proposed the girl interested in knowing what was happening with her friends. She saw the changeling smile as much as he could.

"You wouldn't believe me."

**La fiducia nessuno, crede in niente; tutto e tutto nascondono la verità dal mondo.**

**: With Raven and Starfire:**

"I think people should start selling mustard like a drink."

"I don't think people would like to drink mustard like you do Star."

"But why not? It is absolutely delicious."

"Not everyone shares your tastes Starfire, besides I think there are already way too many drinks in existence."

The girls had decided to go to the restroom before going back to their friend; the restrooms were on the third floor, and now they were just making a little conversation while walking towards the elevator so they could get to the floor Beast Boy was on. Raven pushed the 'Up' button and then waited for the elevator to arrive.

"But because not everyone shares my tastes I think it is a good thing that so many kinds of beverage are in existence." Starfire replied with a finger on her chin thinking about the subject.

"Well, yes; you do have a point there."

**DING!**

The dinging sound made them turn their heads towards the elevator; the doors opened and they saw they were going to share the elevator with someone else: Robin and Cyborg were in there and they looked just as surprised as the girls of finding their friends there.

"My friends, you have returned!" Star exclaimed happily before remembering she was supposed to be quieter in a Hospital "I am glad to see you."

"We're glad to see you guys too Star." Cyborg said after both girls had stepped inside the elevator and the doors had started to close.

"What were you doing down here?" Asked Robin curious.

"We went to the restroom." Raven answered simply "What did you find out?"

"Well…" Cyborg started with an uneasy tone "Rae, you know everything points to the fact that someone planned this crash right? That someone actually wanted to hurt Beast Boy?"

"Yeah, I know that; do you know who did it?" Asked the Goth Titan.

"We're not completely sure Raven but…" Cyborg trailed off not knowing how to tell her the last part of the sentence.

"But what?" Something was wrong, Raven could feel it, what was so bad Cyborg couldn't bring himself to continue?

"Raven, I'm sorry to tell you this;" Robin broke in, his tone emotionless so as to hide how he was really feeling. Raven listened intently to him wanting to hear anything they had to say "But all the evidence points to one person, what we found led us to think that the one who tried to kill Beast Boy was Roy."

**La fiducia nessuno, crede in niente; tutto e tutto nascondono la verità dal mondo.**

**Today's phrase says: **'Trust no-one, believe in nothing; everything and everyone hides the truth from the world.'

**This is it for today, I'll try to update as soon as I can but I'm going back to school in two weeks and I'm not sure of how much spare time I'll have. But don't worry I'm not going to leave this or any other of my stories un-finished, I promise. In the meantime please review.**

**Coming up next chapter:**

"Speedy quit to the Titans a couple of days ago, and now you're telling me he attempted to kill Beast Boy?"

"Speedy is in the past, we're now talking about Roy Harper." Robin answered in a serious tone "I thought I knew him… But now I'm not so sure about it."

/…/…/…/

"What the hell is going on here?" Raven asked to herself upon entering to her room "How did this happen again? This is not normal."


	19. Capitolo diciotto

**I'm alive and back guys!**

**x.Bunny-Chan.x -loves candy...**Thanx; and, about that last request, this relationship will be a lot more than a normal one and not only because they're superheroes…

**Liliac gurl: **Just wait and see, this store is full of twists.

**Angstar54: **I like Italian so I thought it World be nice to write some phrases in that language, and there will be more about the puppets; a lot more….

**Raven 13 (anon): **Glad u like it! And about that, it'll be decided by the reviewers when the moment arrives; just wait for it.

**Serasvictoria666: **I finally updated, and I haven't decided the final pairing yet; you'll decide it later (Just before the Epilogue).

**Ishii Sen Ling: **This mystery is getting better and better; just read this.

**Malingo13: **Yes, Starfire really knows what she's talking about and about Roy… just wait and see.

**Ravenstarglazer: **Molto grazie! Thanx for all the reviews, I hope you like this chapter.

**RavenGrayson91: **I'm flattered you like my store so much, hope you like this chapter!

**Thanx for the reviews guys!**

**I miei sensi mi dicono di funzionare via, i vostri occhi lo forzano rimanere e nella mia mente so che morirò**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the TT or the original book

**Where we left: **"Raven, I'm sorry to tell you this;" Robin broke in, his tone emotionless so as to hide how he was really feeling. Raven listened intently to him wanting to hear anything they had to say "But all the evidence points to one person, what we found led us to think that the one who tried to kill Beast Boy was Roy."

**Now with the story…**

**I miei sensi mi dicono di funzionare via, i vostri occhi lo forzano rimanere e nella mia mente so che morirò**

**Chapter**** 18**

"What are you talking about?" Raven asked her teammates not believing what she was hearing "Roy tried to hurt Beast Boy?"

"We aren't completely sure about it but it's the only logical explanation we have." Cyborg replied still a little unsure himself.

"But why would Roy want to damage our friend? He is Beast Boy's friend too, yes?" Asked Starfire worried at what she had just heard.

"Let's go back to Beast Boy so we can discuss this as a team." Robin decided.

The elevator soon stopped and the doors opened letting the Titans out. Upon reaching Beast Boy's room and opening the door Robin found out who the 'New visitors' Cyborg had mentioned earlier were.

"Bumblebee? Aqualad?" Both Titan East members looked at the door when they heard their names, smiling at the newcomers.

"Hi guys, glad to see you here!" Bee greeted as Aqualad waved at them.

"What are you doing here?" Asked Raven entering the room with the other Titans in tow.

"Cyborg called us this morning and told us what had happened with Beast Boy, we couldn't _not_ come and give him a little support here." Aqualad explained patting BB gently on the chest.

"We thank you for worrying so much about our dear friend." Star said gratefully.

"What are friends for?" Aqualad replied smiling.

"What did you find out?" Asked Bumblebee, changing the subject; she had heard some interesting things from BB but she couldn't let the others find that out; besides, she was still curious about what had happened with the changeling.

"Well, I don't think you'll like what we found." Robin admitted truthfully "But I think we may need your help."

"How is that?" Asked Bumblebee puzzled; Cyborg, who was right beside her, was the one who answered.

"Well, we'll tell you exactly what we found…"

**I miei sensi mi dicono di funzionare via, i vostri occhi lo forzano rimanere e nella mia mente so che morirò**

**: Five minutes later:**

"WHAT?" Cyborg and Robin nodded; their reaction was to be expected considering the circumstances.

"Speedy quit the Titans a couple of days ago, and now you're telling me he attempted to kill Beast Boy?"

"Speedy is in the past, we're now talking about Roy Harper." Robin answered in a serious tone "I thought I knew him… But now I'm not so sure about it."

"What do you mean?" Asked Aqualad raising an eyebrow "Do you actually think he could be capable of such a thing?"

"I'm not sure of anything yet Aqualad, but we don't have any other suspects." Robin answered folding his arms over his chest.

"But I saw him yesterday before Raven and me went back to the Tower." BB spoke up remembering the brief encounter they had shared the previous day "What if someone took one of his arrows while he was away?"

"But who else could know where he's been living these past few days?" The masked leader continued with his questions trying to make the others realize that Roy could be guilty for what happened to Beast Boy. No, Robin didn't like the idea that much either but the evidence was clear.

"He has been coming to the forest longer than that." Raven said trying to make her leader accept the fact that there were too many loose ends and that he couldn't think only Roy could be guilty.

"I know, but still he's been hidden pretty well." Robin retorted "When I went to visit him today he said he wanted to help and he swore that he would never hurt any of us."

"And I believe it is true." Starfire said "He is our friend."

"He's been acting strange lately Starfire, we all have noticed it." Robin replied.

"He's only been acting a little serious, but it's not his fault; you have been hostile towards him lately too." Raven answered back.

"But you have been too friendly with him haven't you?"

"Stop that right now, ok?" Bee said standing at the end of BB's bed and opening her arms as if to separate the fighting teens "Feelings and personal troubles must stay out of this; this is only professional."

"We're talking about it in a professional way." Robin retorted.

"You don't really think I'm going to believe that, do you?" Robin gave the winged Titan a glare and that was enough to give her the answer she needed "You can discuss your own problems later, we have a mystery here."

"I'm just pointing out what we discovered back at the crime scene; I'm not saying that he's the one who caused Beast Boy's accident just yet." Robin said.

"Great, so what do you propose we do now?" Raven asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Investigate; Cyborg, what happened at the crime scene after I left?" Cyborg looked up at hearing his name; he had been trying to block the discussion out of his mind… and had succeeded.

"Huh? Oh, the crime scene, sure." He smiled sheepishly before becoming serious again "I asked the special squadron to look for fingerprints or any other kind of DNA that may be useful in the investigation; they told me they would send me whatever DNA they found in…" Cy checked his watch –which was implanted in his arm- and continued "15 minutes."

"You'll receive it at the Tower?" Asked BB.

"Yep, via the 'Titan's Hot Line'" Cyborg joked, BB was the only one who laughed while the rest looked strangely at Cyborg –Starfire because she didn't know what a 'Hot Line' was-.

"Can I go back to the Tower with you? I'd like to study whatever you receive." Raven requested, Cyborg smiled at her.

"'Course Rae, we'll leave in a moment." Cy turned back to Robin "The police helped me look for footprints but, strangely enough, we found none."

"Are you sure you looked everywhere?" Aqualad asked this time.

"Yeah: Up, down, east, west; everywhere and there were no footprints anywhere." Cyborg assured "But there were a few broken branches of the trees that are around there; it leads me to suspect that whoever did this went jumping from tree to tree."

"The police are going to look for DNA in those trees and branches too, yes?" Starfire asked to make sure that everything had been covered.

"Yup, I asked them to do so."

"Perfect, you better get going and call us once you get the results." Robin instructed "Once we have the results I'll think up a plan and proceed with the investigation."

"Ok, if you need us to stay here I need to call the twins and tell them so they don't get worried." Bumblebee said picking up her communicator.

"You do that, c'mon Rae; let's get going." Cyborg said motioning to the door; he let Raven walk out the door first and then he followed suit "I'll call you soon guys! Don't worry BB, we'll find the one who did this to you and tell him exactly what we think about them."

"Thanks Cy!" BB called back trying to turn his head to look at his best friend but he couldn't "I hope you discover who did it with the DNA info the police will send you."

"So do I BB." Cy muttered to himself as he closed the door behind him.

"Sooo, Beast Boy…" Aqualad started after an awkward silence fell upon the room "Does the T.V. have cable?"

"Oh yeah!" BB answered "I hope there's a good movie on."

Bumblebee glanced at Robin out of the corner of her eyes; he had his arms still crossed over his chest and he was frowning, she was now sure that all the things Beast Boy had told them about the problems in their Tower were true. The winged Titan sighed _'I hope we can solve this mystery soon; otherwise this could get really ugly'._

**I miei sensi mi dicono di funzionare via, i vostri occhi lo forzano rimanere e nella mia mente so che morirò**

**: With Cyborg and Raven:**

Cyborg was driving the T-car back to the Tower; there were lots of clouds in the sky and it seemed as though it was going to rain any minute now. Now that he was alone with Raven he could talk with her about something he had found in the investigations he had started some time ago… And he also wanted to break the silence; they hadn't said a word to each other since they left the hospital.

"Raven." The girl looked at her friend as he continued "Since that time you told me about the Forest of Otalu I've been investigating about its History and I've discovered some interesting things about it."

"What did you find out?" Asked Raven.

"Well, mainly urban legends; there's one in particular that caught my attention." Cyborg started to explain "It says that the forest is the place where the spirits of the deceased soldiers wander; but there is one spirit in particular that controls them all: The spirit of 'The Carver'. 'The Carver' was a young soldier that lived in the forest trying to hide from the war; he didn't want to fight and found it easy to hide in the forest and wait until the war was over so he could be with the one he loved. His friends and girlfriend tried to tell him that he needed to fight but he didn't want to risk his life and so he never left the forest. After he died, the only thing that was left of him was the knife he used to carve things in wood; one of them being an un-finished wooden replica of his lover. The knife was retrieved by an old friend of his who found him dead and he was the one who told the survivors about this. All of this happened during World War Two."

"Wow." Raven said in awe "It's very interesting, why is it the one that caught your attention?"

"According to the comments; it's the real story and many people say they have seen the spirits of the soldiers in the forest." Cyborg answered "That last part can be an invention but they all concur in one thing; no-one has ever seen the spirit of 'The Carver'."

"How is the spirit of 'The Carver' supposed to be?" Raven asked "I mean, how can they be sure none of those spirits they claim they've seen is his?"

"It's been said that the spirit of 'The Carver' needs to have the knife in his hands to prove it's him; none of the other spirits has it so it isn't possible that any of them is the spirit everyone is looking for." Cyborg replied before pushing the button which enabled the T-Car to levitate above the water.

"Why is this supposed knife so important?" Raven wondered aloud, but her companion thought it was another question directed to him.

"I'm not sure Raven, what I found is only like a… Symbol, an insignia but I think there is more to it than that." Cyborg said as they reached the shore of their island "But I promise I'll investigate deeper."

"Thanks Cyborg; thanks for investigating." The girl thanked him sincerely.

"Hey, anything for my sis." He replied with a smile which Raven returned.

Once they had parked the car, they both got out of it and made their way to the elevator. After they had entered the elevator Raven started to think about what Cyborg had told her.

'The Carver', somehow when she thought about him it reminded her of Roy; he is alone in the forest carving wood with his knife and doesn't want to get out of there. Besides, the knife was kinda strange; could it be that he had 'The Carver's' knife?

"Cyborg." Raven said "I'm going to my room for a moment; I'll be right back."

"All right then, I'll check if the police already sent the DNA or not." Raven nodded and Cyborg turned around as the elevator doors closed.

"I need to see that puppet again and look for any kind of spirit within it." Raven said to herself "I remember something strange happened the day Roy told me to keep it and I need to make sure nothing is wrong with it."

The elevator stopped and the doors opened; the Gothic Titan walked out and towards her room for a quick inspection of Roy's puppet. As her bedroom door opened she gazed around the room for the puppet, but something else caught her attention.

"What the hell is going on here?" Raven asked herself upon entering her room "How did this happen again? This is not normal."

And it was defiantly not normal; the one thing that caught her attention was the fact that her curtains were swaying and she hadn't left the window open so that could only mean one thing.

"Yeah, the window is broken again." Raven said exasperated and questioning as she examined the new damage her window had received "Oh… My… God…"

This time the damage was much worse: The hole was so big that Cyborg could jump out of the window through it perfectly fine and standing up tall, not even crouched down. She was grateful it hadn't started to rain yet; otherwise the floor of her room would be completely wet.

"Tape will be of no use now." Raven decided, she turned around and went to her vanity; she opened one of the bottom drawers and took out some of the black bags she hadn't used for garbage when she cleaned her room a few months ago "This will do."

She retrieved her tape and went to the window. After a few seconds, thanks to her powers, the hole was covered with bags but Raven didn't feel any safer: Again there were no crystals on the floor, not a piece of glass and she couldn't repair the window properly but where on Earth could the broken glass be? And who had done it?

"I better go tell Cyborg this." With that said, Raven made her way down to the common room forgetting to do the one thing she had went to her room to do in the first place.

The moment she entered the common she heard Cyborg sighing in what seemed to be exasperation. Curious, she walked over and stood behind the chair he was sitting on. She looked up to the screen where she could see some pictures and information being displayed.

"Something wrong Cyborg?"

"Actually, yes." Cyborg answered truthfully "There is nothing that can help us, at all."

"What do you mean?" Cyborg turned to look back at the girl and answered.

"The police sent me in the mail that they tried to find any kind of DNA at the crime scene, but that there was only human DNA on the arrow and the puppet, I mean, there were no fingerprints or anything else anywhere; they sent me everything to prove their point." Raven looked up at the screen as the boy continued "I already examined the human DNA that was found on the arrows and puppet and it was, obviously, Roy's DNA."

"Is there any other DNA besides Roy's on those things?" Raven asked hopefully.

"No." Cyborg answered, before his friend could say something he continued "But it's week old DNA."

"Say what?" Asked Raven and Cy nodded.

"According to the computer results, the arrow and puppet haven't been touched for a week now." Cyborg answered "So, the person responsible was either wearing gloves or was anything but flesh."

"But it's not logical." Raven reasoned "No footprints, no fingerprints and no DNA; no human is able to do that."

"I'm starting to thing that the person responsible for all of this isn't actually a human… At least not a normal one."

"Exactly, what kind of… thing would be able to-" Raven stopped suddenly and her eyes widened as an idea popped into her mind "Cyborg, come with me to my room."

"For what?" Raven didn't answer, she just took his arm and teleported both of them to her room "Hey! Don't do things like that so suddenly! It creeps me out."

"Sorry, but I'm going to ask you for a favor."

"What is it?"

"Please look for DNA on the floor and window could you?"

"Sure." The boy accepted moving the curtain way "Just give me a- What the heck?!"

"It's bad, isn't it?" Asked Raven folding her arms over her chest "And don't ask me how it happened because I have no idea how it happened."

"But I just replaced your window!" Cyborg complained not really blaming Raven.

"But I didn't do anything, I got into the room and found the window already broken." Raven explained "Once again there were no broken pieces on the floor. I don't know what to do about it."

"Kay, let's see." Cyborg pushed a button on the left side of his head and started to look around the window and Raven's room. After about two minutes he stopped and sighed, looking back at Raven "Well… Nothing."

"What do you mean 'nothing'?"

"Exactly that; there is nothing. The only recent DNA here is yours." Cyborg answered "Are you sure you're not experiencing some personality problems?"

"Wanna see me experiencing personality problems?" Asked Raven menacingly; Cyborg stepped back and Raven took a deep breath to relax herself "I'm telling you the truth Cyborg; it wasn't my fault."

"Ok; if you say so then I believe you." Cyborg sighed and looked around once more, this time his eyes stopped on the puppet at the end of Raven's bed "Tell me, have you been playing with your puppet lately?"

"What?" Asked Raven strangely before looking at the puppet and answering "I barely touch it, much less play with it."

"Well, that's weird."

"What's weird?"

"There was no DNA on the floor;" Cy started "But there were lots of splinters scattered all over the room."

"Splinters?" Raven quirked a questioning eyebrow "That's not possible Cyborg."

"For real, that thing must be in worse condition than I thought."

"Aw, come on; it's not that bad." Raven said taking the puppet by the neck, but the moment she did she felt a strange and powerful energy run through her body; it was so strong and so sudden that she couldn't help but yelp, dropping the puppet back onto her bed.

"What's wrong Raven?" Cyborg asked concerned putting his hand on the girl's shoulder "What is it?"

"Nothing." Raven decided to answer; it was better not to tell Cyborg about the energy or her suspicions or he would be even more stressed and that was something she didn't want to happen "I just forgot about the barbed wire around the joints and pricked my finger with it."

"Is that so?" The boy didn't believe her, but she had decided not to tell him anything just yet.

"Yes." Raven took in a deep breath and made another decision "Cyborg, I'm going to the forest."

"What?" The rain was starting to fall by then; they could hear the drops gently hitting the window but didn't pay it much attention "Why?"

"I have something to do there." Raven answered simply exiting the room "Give the others an excuse, but I have to go to the Forest… And I probably won't go back to the Hospital today."

"But-"

"If anything happens;" Raven interrupted "Call me, I'll keep my communicator on line."

"Raven we need you at the Hospital; it's important." Cyborg insisted, but Raven was more stubborn than him.

"What I'm going to do is important too Cyborg." Raven turned to face her teammate before continuing "Look, I'm going to do like a little investigation of my own and if things are as I think they are then we could possibly solve Beast Boy's case sooner than with any of Robin's other plans."

"Then I'll go with you."

"No." The male Titan was stopped before he could even take a step "This is something I have to do alone; you go with the rest and make plans with them in case my investigation fails while I do this. That way we can have more chance of discovering what really has been happening lately."

"I'm going to let you go alone only if you promise me you'll be back before sunset today and without any kind of wounds." Cy proposed defeated; he still trusted his friend enough to let her do what she wanted but that didn't change the fact that she was a member of his family and he cared a lot about her.

"I promise." Raven accepted with a smirk "And, could you keep what happened in here a secret? I don't want the others worrying about my window."

"I promise." Both teens nodded at each other before Raven raced towards the elevator leaving Cyborg still in her room.

Cyborg sighed and looked back at the puppet; he knew Raven was hiding lots of things from them but he would leave her alone a little longer until he felt it was the right time to ask her about it. With a final look at Raven's window he walked out of Raven's bedroom and decided to call Robin to inform him about the situation.

"Cyborg calling Robin."

"_Hey Cyborg."_ Robin replied as his face appeared on the screen in Cyborg's arm _"What did you find?"_

"Nothing." Robin frowned confused.

"_What do you mean? Did__n't the police send you the information already?"_

"They did, but there was nothing useful there." Cyborg replied.

"_No DNA, fingerprints or footprints?"_Robin asked looking exasperated, Cyborg could understand more or less how his leader felt; he was almost as frustrated as Robin probably was. Still, the older Titan noticed his teammate seemed really calm; surely because he didn't want to lose his temper in a Hospital, although maybe things could change when he heard the other news Cyborg had to tell him.

"Nothing, man; the only DNA there was present on the arrow and puppet was Roy's but it's a week old."

"_Then the__ person responsible was either using gloves or wasn't a normal person."_

"My thoughts exactly." Cyborg nodded "I'm coming back to the Hospital now so we can discus this as a group."

"_Wait, what do you mean by 'I'?" _Cyborg winced, that was the one thing he had been dreading talking about _"Isn't Raven coming back with you?"_

"No, she went to the forest to make an investigation of her own."

"WHAT?" Cyborg winced again, now Robin wouldn't watch his temper _"HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY LET HER GO THERE ALONE KNOWING THAT WE-"_

"Cyborg out!" Cyborg cut the communication off and sighed again "Raven, you owe me one; this won't be pretty."

**I miei sensi mi dicono di funzionare via, i vostri occhi lo forzano rimanere e nella mia mente so che morirò**

**: With Raven:**

Raven arrived at the forest and saw Roy's camp near by; she had already learned the exact location of the camp but didn't want to waste energy teleporting. She had tried to protect herself with a shield but she had gotten wet when she exited the Tower; she had forgotten that it was raining outside the moment she left and didn't summoned the shield soon enough, hence being hit by quite some raindrops.

Anyway that wasn't important at the moment. She decided to land inside the camp; she was sure Roy wouldn't mind after what had happened earlier that day. The moment she landed she was greeted by Smirks who barked and ran around her animatedly.

"Raven!" She heard Roy say; his tone reminded her of how Robin used to greet her every morning when they were dating "You're back!"

"Yeah, I needed some fresh air." She said with a smile, Roy walked up towards her and embraced her but a moment later he separated and took a look at her.

"You're wet."

"Just a little. Do you have a towel?" Roy nodded and hurried to his suit case; he opened it and fetched a towel as fast as he could, which was pretty fast.

"This will do." He said handing her the towel "I'm so glad you decided to visit me again."

"I wanted to see you again." Raven replied smiling as best as she could, how she wished it truly was the only reason.

**I miei sensi mi dicono di funzionare via, i vostri occhi lo forzano rimanere e nella mia mente so che morirò**

**Today's phrase says: ****'**My senses tell me to run away, your eyes force me to stay and in my mind I know I'm gonna die.'

**So, how was it? Does the chapter change your mind about anything? And just wait to see; things will get very interesting later on. Please review and tell me what you think.**

**Coming up next chapter:**

"Raven can't leave us now; we're a team! Now tell me where she is!" Robin yelled really frustrated "I'll go get her myself!"

"No, you don't!" Cyborg yelled back "You're gonna stay here and think up a plan with us, ya hear me?!?!"

/…/…/…/

"Do you think I could ever do that?" Roy asked frowning, Raven could tell he was mad.

"It's not like that but I have to investigate-"

"Go away! Just go away!"


	20. Capitolo diciannove

**It has been sooo long but I'm finally here. BTW; I'll start to answer your reviews the way it should be done from now on starting with the reviews you leave for**** this chapter. Ok?**

**Ravenstarglazer:**Thanks for the review; hope you like this chapter; you have seen nothing yet.

**Liliac**** gurl: **Trust me; things are gonna get pretty interesting and I'm sure you'll find out more things that'll help you with this mystery.

**Ishii Sen Ling****: **I'm back with the story; hope you enjoy the chapter.

**RavenGrayson91****: **Thanks, hope you like this chapter as well.

**Serasvictoria666: **And there is more to come; just wait and see what other things are happening with the Titans, this is only the beginning of the real mystery.

**Seletua:**Don't worry; I'm glad you like my story and also I'm happy that you let me know it. Enjoy the chapter.

**Non posso credere in voi, non quando sono soltanto un puppet a voi.**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the TT or the original book

**Where we left: **"I wanted to see you again." Raven replied smiling as best as she could, how she wished it truly was the only reason.

**Now with the story…**

"I wanted to see you again." Raven replied smiling as best as she could, how she wished it truly was the only reason.

**Non posso credere in voi, non quando sono soltanto un puppet a voi.**

**Chapter**** 19**

**: With Cyborg:**

"There is no use" Cyborg said with a tired sigh "I hate this; first I can't find anything about Roy, then Robin is waiting for me at the hospital ready to kill me and now this!"

Cyborg bent down again and continued checking 'his baby' up. He couldn't believe what had happened; he had just reached the outskirts of the city and was driving towards the Hospital when suddenly, right when he was passing near by the forest of Otalu, something happened to the T-car and it stopped right on the spot. Now he was trying to find out exactly what had failed but, so far, his luck hadn't improved in the least since he had received the information about the DNA earlier that day; not to mention it was still raining and he was getting all wet.

"If I don't get my baby to work soon I'm as good as dead." Cyborg said exasperated "C'mon girl, what's wrong with you?"

He looked deeper inside his car and reached his hand out to see if he could feel any sort of strange object that shouldn't be there. He was about to give up and try something else when suddenly he felt something that didn't resemble metal in any way, he felt it a little more and found he could put his hand around it. He did so and pulled the strange object out of the car; only to find something he hadn't expected –nor wanted- to find near his car, let alone inside it.

"Aahhaa!" He screamed letting that thing fall onto the wet road "What's the meaning of this?!"

Cyborg wanted to run away from that object but he knew it could help their investigation so he picked it up and threw it into the back seat of the T-car ever so carefully as not to disturb any kind of DNA it may have. After doing that, Cyborg closed the top of the car and climbed in praying for it to work; after two tries the car started as if nothing had happened and the mechanic Titan was once again on his way back to the Hospital.

"Robin is going to kill me; I just hope he's still in the Hospital and not trying to find Raven." The rain outside and the emptiness around him made the whole thing startling and the puppet on the backseat only made the trip even creepier "Can this day get any worse?"

**Non posso credere in voi, non quando sono soltanto un puppet a voi.**

**: With Raven:**

"_What was standing there was not to be believed…"_

Raven continued reading still thinking about what she had to do while visiting Roy in the forest, but completing her mission was getting harder and harder by the minute due to the fact that the redhead was keeping her occupied by making her read to him out loud while he continued working on more puppets. The girl was sure he would have improved by then but the dolls were just as horrible as they had been since the very first time she had seen them; it seemed more like a style now instead of just a hobby and she had started to think that Roy wasn't really trying to improve anymore but he just carved the puppets out of habit.

It hadn't been that long since she had left the Tower but it was simply amazing how it felt as though days instead of less than an hour had passed since she had been with Roy. Even though she had to admit she was enjoying the moment, she still had work to do and it couldn't wait any longer.

"Roy," Raven started closing the book and looking up at the ex-Titan who looked up at her as well "Can I ask you something?"

"You already are." Roy answered with a toothy grin as he put the puppet and the knife away "But you can ask me something else if you want; you have my permission."

"Gee thanks." Raven said sarcastically with a roll of her eyes before becoming serious again "Could you… tell me how you got the knife in the first place?"

Roy looked sadly at her and she knew she had touched a nerve; probably it had to do with that thing that had happened not long ago but she had to be sure about it. She waited for a couple of minutes or so until she heard the boy sigh and saw him take the knife.

"It was a gift." Roy answered staring intently at the object in his hands "Oliver gave it to me before he was taken to the Hospital."

"And, do you know where he got it from?" Raven asked after an awkward silence; talking about Oliver really hurt him but she had to continue with the investigation.

"His father gave it to him before he passed away… and he did the same with me." Raven wanted to hear more about it so she didn't say anything and just stared at Roy who looked back at her, after a moment he sighed seeming to finally understand what she wanted "Oliver told me his father got it from a friend of his and that he had always treated it like a treasure; he never really told me why his friend had given him the knife in the first place but it must have been something important. Later on, Oliver's dad got sick and gave the knife to him telling him to keep it like a treasure as he had done before."

Roy stopped again, they had gotten to the point that hurt the most and the female Titan didn't need to hear the whole story but she knew it would help Roy with the pressure he had been feeling lately and Raven had decided to let him continue.

"That day, the day of the battle against those aliens, Green Arrow and I fought together and did our best but… Something happened that neither of us was expecting; we were fighting a group of five aliens at a time and we were focusing completely on them and never looked back, giving the enemy the chance to attack us from behind. Oliver, being the closest to them, was attacked first; he screamed in pain and I turned to him, I received a gash on my side but it wasn't such a big deal and ran to Green Arrow's side."

"Checking him out I found some kind of big dart thrust into his neck, J'onn neared us and took the dart out of Oliver's neck; he said it had Gordanian venom on it and it was already spreading through Green Arrow's body. J'onn said he wouldn't be able to heal him so he just tried to suck as much venom as he could out of Oliver's body, just then a group of people arrived and offered to take him to the Hospital which was just a few blocks away; seeing as how the Justice League Headquarters were being attacked it wouldn't be safe to teleport him there and we accepted."

"Before leaving though, he called my name and I neared him, he took the knife from his belt and told me to take it, I did as I was told and then he told me that he was proud of me; he always had and that he was proud of himself for choosing me as his apprentice and as a son. After that those people took him away from us and we continued fighting."

"After the Gordanians left I went straight to the Hospital along with the rest of the heroes I was teamed up with but, as soon as we got into the building a Doctor greeted us and told us Green Arrow had passed away; they couldn't do anything to save him." Roy wiped away the tears that had already started to fall from his eyes and continued "I keep the knife now to remember a part of him will always be with me."

Raven nodded; not long ago, the Gordanians had attacked the Earth once again and all the heroes in the world were put under alert even though the aliens –strangely enough- had only attacked the United States for some unknown reason. The Justice League was all over the country helping other heroes fight against the Gordanians; she herself had to work along with Batman, Wonder Woman, Robin and Beast Boy to protect Gotham City. Speedy had been called along with Mas and Menos to help Green Arrow, Martian Manhunter, Superman and Supergirl to protect Metropolis. Soon after the Gordanians were defeated the news of Green Arrow's death had already traveled around the world; the loss of a warrior was something to be expected but it still had been shocking to hear Green Arrow was the only deceased hero in the battle.

It was well known Speedy had taken it the worse; his team and other heroes supported him as much as they could and he had had some sort of vacation to recover a little from the loss. The archer was soon back to work and he seemed to be back to his old self; but now, with everything he had just said to her, Raven was sure it still hurt him a lot to remember his mentor and she could only imagine how he should be feeling at the moment.

"You…" Raven started carefully "You really cared about him, didn't you?"

"I always saw him, not only as my mentor, but as my father as well." Roy replied "I loved him like a son loves his father."

Roy's tears fell more freely now and Raven did the one thing she thought would be the best thing to do; she kept her mouth shut and just embraced him. He rested against her and continued to cry silently, Smirks walked up to them and laid down at his master's feet as if to let Roy know he was there for him. The three of them stayed like that as the rain continued to fall around Roy's camp.

**Non posso credere in voi, non quando sono soltanto un puppet a voi.**

**: At the Hospital:**

"Sorry I'm late." Cyborg said opening the door of the room BB was staying in; his fellow titans turned to him.

"Cyborg, why are you so wet?" Asked Bumblebee surprised to see the mechanic Titan soaked from head to toe, the rest of the team was just as surprised.

"I had a problem with the T-car and I had to park in the middle of the road so I could check her up and I got all wet." Cyborg explained nearing to BB's bed.

"And you didn't have Star's hairdryer to help you get dry." Beast Boy said aloud snickering while Cyborg tried to shush him without much luck; all the attention was on him again.

"It was only one time!" Cyborg defended himself turning to Starfire "You were shopping, Robin was researching, Raven was meditating and BB and I were bored so we started playing with water balloons I got all wet and towels aren't of much use with me so I kinda went into your room and used your hairdryer to dry myself."

There was an awkward silence in the room except for Beast Boy who was trying not to laugh at the memory of Cyborg holding Starfire's pink hairdryer to dry himself. Finally, Starfire spoke up.

"I trust it worked?"

"Pretty well, thanks." Cy answered with a smile relieved to find out Star wasn't mad at him.

"Now Cyborg," Aqualad started seriously "Down to business; what exactly did you find?"

"Nothing;" The questioned Titan replied annoyed with the fact "I mean that I received all the info but there was nothing of help and this whole ordeal is getting more and more complicated each moment. Besides; I think there's more to the puppets than what we thought."

"What more could there be?" Asked Bee "They're just wooden dolls; the one who controls them is who we have to find."

"But if Roy's DNA was the only one there was on the puppet and it was a week old; where is the sense in that?" Robin wondered aloud "And who would incriminate him or even know when he was away so they could steal one of his arrows?"

"If there is no logical explanation, then what do you propose?" Aqualad questioned the masked leader "Either there's a logical explanation or a mythical one."

"But we can only go after the logical explanation, at least until Raven joins us." Starfire said thoughtfully.

"That's exactly what I think." Robin said turning to Cyborg "Is she still at the Forest?"

"Why do you wanna know that?" Cyborg asked back.

"We need her here, now." Robin answered sternly "She has responsibilities as a Titan and she knows that."

"She's doin' an investigation of her own; just leave her alone." Cyborg argued back, the rest of the Titans knew things were going to get ugly in there.

"Did she give you an explanation to that?" Robin question getting irritated with his mechanic friend "Or did she just leave like that?"

"She said she'd explain everything to me later when she got some answers."

"Lately it's getting hard for me to trust her as I used to." Robin admitted "And with good reason; she's letting her emotions get the best of her and that isn't helping us here, I'll make her come here now!"

"Leave her alone!"

"Raven can't leave us now; we're a team! Now tell me where she is!" Robin yelled really frustrated "I'll go get her myself!"

"No, you don't!" Cyborg yelled back "You're gonna stay here and think up a plan with us, ya hear me?!"

"You can't tell me what to do!"

"Out of the two of us; _I'm_ the one who has at least a little bit of common sense still in me so I suggest you keep your voice down and help us decide what the rest of us will do while Raven finishes her research." Now Cyborg sounded calmer making it clear he didn't want to argue anymore and, to be sincere, Robin didn't want to continue fighting either; he would need to follow his teammate's game until he had the chance to talk to Raven again.

"Fine," Robin replied finally "Let's do it your way for now."

"Thank you very much." Cyborg then turned back to the rest of the people in the room "Now, where were we?"

**Non posso credere in voi, non quando sono soltanto un puppet a voi.**

**: With Raven and Roy:**

"Thanks Raven." Roy said wiping his tears away "I needed that."

"I know, I'm glad I was here to help you." Raven replied with a soft smile.

"But, why did you want me to tell you where I had gotten this knife?" Roy asked raising an eyebrow, Raven sighed at this.

"Because," She started "I've heard some strange things about this forest and I recently found out something else that may explain everything that's happening here."

"Like what?" The boy asked suspiciously.

"Well, we all know that what happened to Beast Boy wasn't an accident…" Raven started not daring to look Roy in the eye "And I think that that knife is far more than in seems."

"I don't think I understand you." Now Roy sounded annoyed; that wasn't good.

"What I'm trying to say is that… Maybe… It was actually _you_ who hurt Beast Boy…" Raven trailed off not sure of how to explain to him what she was suspecting about this whole mess, she didn't have time to explain farther though.

"Do you think I could ever do that?" Roy asked frowning, Raven could tell he was mad.

"It's not like that but I have to investigate-"

"Go away! Just go away!"

"Please Roy; just let me explain-"

"No! I get it now!" Roy interrupted Raven's plea "You're just like Robin; you're just waiting for a little mistake so you can blame it all on me!"

"I would never do that!" Raven snapped; she had lost her patience with the ex-Titan for believing she was capable of such a thing "You're jumping to conclusions without letting me explain!"

"You just said it yourself; you think that it was actually me who hurt Beast Boy!"

"I was trying to explain the situation to you as best as I could so you could understand me!"

"And you made it pretty clear what you think about me!" Roy continued to yell accusingly "Now get out! I don't want to see you around here again!"

"Fine!" Raven snapped finally "Have it your way!"

With that said Raven levitated out of the camp and towards the Tower not bothering to create a force field to protect herself from the pouring rain. It was then that she realized she would regret what she had done; she had a fight with Roy because of her wrong use of words and now he didn't trust her anymore and thinking about what they had shared earlier that day only made her feel worse.

**Non posso credere in voi, non quando sono soltanto un puppet a voi.**

**: Back at the Hospital:**

"Ok then; tomorrow we'll start with the investigation as we planned it." Cyborg said after the Titans had finally decided what to do "We have to call Roy and tell him to stay alert of anything suspicious about the Forest."

"I still can't believe you don't trust him enough to let him participate in the investigation formally." Aqualad commented with a shake of his head; it was still hard for him to believe it could have been Roy who caused the accident.

"I want to keep him out of this until I get enough evidence to prove he's innocent." Robin said seriously; he was determined to get to the bottom of it all even if it meant doubting of one of his old friends.

"Don't you think it would be better if one of us goes with him while he's investigating?" Bumblebee proposed "That way we could keep an eye on him as we continue with the case."

"No, if he happens to be the one responsible for Beast Boy's accident then I don't know what would happen to any of you." Robin replied looking the Titans East leader in the eyes "That's why I don't like Raven being alone with him."

"I thought it was because you were jealous of their relationship." BB said not really thinking about what he was doing, of course it meant he had made a huge mistake.

"What relationship?" Robin asked his green teammate "They're becoming very good friend; that doesn't mean I have to feel jealous about them."

"Good friends?" BB asked still not knowing when to stay quiet "I bet they'll start dating sooner than you can-"

"We better go." Cyborg interrupted "We need to get some rest so we can start our investigation tomorrow."

"And you're leaving me alone again!" The shape-shifter whined with teary eyes "I don't wanna be alone."

"Fear not friend." Starfire spoke up "I will be accompanying you tomorrow while the rest work in the research. You would like that, yes?"

"Sure Star." BB answered with a small smile "You think Raven will come to visit me tomorrow?"

"I'm not sure Beast Boy." Cyborg answered truthfully "I think she'll be investigating more on her own and I don't know how long it'll take."

"Well… If you see her just remind her I exist, ok?" BB requested; knowing that the person that had become like your older sister wasn't thinking about paying you a visit when you were in the Hospital didn't make things easy to accept.

"Sure thing BB." Cy promised "C'mon ya'll; let's get back to the Tower. We'll come to visit you tomorrow if we can Beast Boy; I promise."

"Thanks guys, I'll see you soon!" The rest of the Titans bid their good-bye's and exited the room. Once alone, the Changeling sighed and stared at the ceiling "My sixth sense is telling me something is not right here; something is wrong… Real wrong."

**Non posso credere in voi, non quando sono soltanto un puppet a voi.**

**: At the Tower:**

"Great going Raven." The dark Titan said sarcastically as she entered the main room of the Tower "First you make him cry, then you make a bad choice of words and then you snap at him; real smooth!"

Raven made her way to the couch as she continued rambling about her mistake; she was wet, mad, tired and it was all her fault.

"How could I be so-Ouch!" The girl tripped on something almost falling down, after recovering her balance she looked back to see what had she tripped over "What the-?"

Raven felt like screaming; she would have expected to see all but that: One of Roy's puppets was lying near the couch and it was just as big as a six-year old kid. Raven walked nearer to it ever so carefully as if expecting something to happen; the puppet just stayed there unmoving but the Titan felt as if it would jump on her any second now.

"_Raaaavveeennn…_" Raven's heart skipped a beat at the hiss; it seemed to come from everywhere at the same time "_Raaavveeennn…"_

"Who's there?!" Raven yelled not knowing if she wanted an answer "Who are you?!"

"_Raaaavveeennn…_" Now the hiss seemed to come from the hallway; forcing herself to be brave, the Sorceress walked towards the door slowly just seeing if she could find the precise source of the hiss "_Raaaavveeennn…_"

"Show yourself!" Raven yelled walking through the door and out of the main room.

"_Raaaavveeennn…_" Raven jumped; the hiss was now accompanied by little footsteps right above her, Raven snapped her head upwards but only saw the ceiling. Then, more footsteps were heard from the other end of the hallway, but when Raven looked down she found nothing. As more footsteps were heard all around her she started to panic "_Raaaavveeennn…_"

"Who are you?" The girl questioned to the wind "What do you want?"

Raven looked frantically around until she heard a loud bump from inside the main room; she turned to the door with a jump and wondered what to do next. After a minute of thought she deiced to get back to that room and see what was happening inside. Once she was near enough to the door it opened to let her in and just when she was about to step inside the room she felt something on her shoulder.

"AAAAHHHHAAA!" Without thinking; Raven jerked to the side and shot a blast of black energy to whatever was behind her; she heard something hit the floor a few feet away from her and wasn't until then that she dared to open her eyes and find out what she had exactly blasted at…

**Non posso credere in voi, non quando sono soltanto un puppet a voi.**

**Finally an update; I just felt like writing this chapter and so I did. ****Now you know more about Roy's story and we're only getting to the climax of the story. Please review and tell me what you think.**

**The phrase says: **"I can't believe in you, not when I'm only a puppet to you."

**Coming up next chapter:**

"Robin," Raven started "I think I know what is happening but I need to investigate deeper and stop it before it becomes a real danger for everyone."

"But how about you?" Robin asked worried "By investigating on your own you're putting yourself in danger and I don't want you to get hurt or something; I wouldn't be able to take it."

/…/…/…/

"Now I'm completely sure this isn't just what it seems; there has to be something else behind the puppets." Robin said seriously.

"What is important is to find out who or what is controlling them;" Bumblebee proposed "And we better do it fast or who knows what would happen to us or any other person."


	21. Capitolo Venti

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the TT or the original book

**Where we left: **"AAAAHHHHAAA!" Without thinking; Raven jerked to the side and shot a blast of black energy to whatever was behind her; she heard something hit the floor a few feet away from her and wasn't until then that she dared to open her eyes and find out what she had exactly blasted at…

**Now with the story…**

**I fantasmi mi lasciano le cicatrici, cicatrici che non posso cancellare**

**Chapter 20**

"Ouch, that hurt!"

"Told ya we should've called first, oh great leader."

"Oh, crap!" Raven exclaimed rushing to the other side of the hallway where Robin, Cyborg, Starfire, Bumblebee and Aqualad were sprawled out. "Are you ok, guys?"

"You're stronger than I thought, girl." Bumblebee said from the floor, Raven helped her up while Aqualad pulled Starfire to her feet and the other two boys stood up slowly as well.

"I'm sorry, you startled me." Raven admitted looking at each of her friends. "Next time don't sneak up on me like that."

"Don't worry; one bruise will be enough to remind me of that." Aqualad said rubbing his left shoulder where he had landed.

"Sorry Raven, we didn't mean to scare you." Robin said truthfully. "But, are you ok? You look a little shaken up… Did something happen?"

"Nothing to worry about Robin." Raven lied, rubbing her temples to calm herself. "It's nothing really."

"You sure?" Asked Cyborg. "You're wet."

"I let the rain fall on me when I was coming back to the Tower." Raven lied again, she didn't like to lie to her friends but she couldn't tell them what had actually happened in the forest with Roy or they would get more suspicious about him and what was really going on between Raven and the ex-Titan; she didn't want the others knowing that just yet.

"Oh yeah, about that;" Robin started before anything else could be said. "I need to talk to you."

"Not now Robin, I'm not in the mood to hear other one of your lectures." Raven said, taking a step backwards as if to prove that she didn't want to be near him.

"It's not a lecture Raven; this is important." Robin insisted; the rest of the Titans slipped quietly into the main room leaving the two birds alone "There are some things I need to discuss with you."

"If this is about Roy then forget it." Raven said knowing the talk was actually going to be about Roy and that was something she was going to evade if she could.

"Raven, listen… I know something is wrong with him-"

"I knew this was going to be just another complaint about me being Roy's friend." Raven interrupted, crossing her arms quickly before letting them fall back to her sides with an exasperated sigh and turning on her heel ready to go into the main room.

"Wait!" Robin snapped, taking hold of Raven's arm and stopping her before she could get away from him. "Listen, this goes beyond my thoughts about him; I'm serious just let me explain this to you."

Raven turned around and looked at him; his face wasn't in the frown he had been wearing ever since he knew about Roy living in the forest, but a concerned one which Raven had learned to recognize as a sign of seriousness and honesty. Possibly what he was going to tell her was actually beyond the attitude he had been having towards the redhead for a few days now.

"Ok." Raven said finally with a defeated sigh. "But I'm warning you: If this turns out to be a lecture about my friendship with Roy I'll-"

"It won't!" Robin promised still holding Raven's arm. "Could we go to a more private area?"

"If you let go of my arm I could be able to move better." Raven pointed out and Robin quickly, although hesitantly, did as he was told.

"Let's go to the gym." Robin proposed; he was going to propose they went to either of their bedrooms but he didn't want to make the situation more awkward than it already was. He felt relieved when Raven nodded without another word.

The pair took the elevator to the floor the gym was on without saying anything to each other. It was weird for them to be alone again even when they were supposed to be teammates, but it wasn't such a surprise considering they had been avoiding each other since their break-up. They were only seeing each other because they lived in the same house and were still a team regardless of whether they had personal issues. And, while they used to team up for whatever mission the Titans had, after the separation they had never been teamed up again and that was one of the main reasons for Raven to be so close to Beast Boy nowadays.

Speaking of Beast Boy, Raven now remembered she had to go visit him. Her investigation with Roy had taken the whole afternoon and it would probably take all of the following day. Perhaps she would allow herself a moment to visit her green friend even if it was for only a few minutes; he deserved it after all.

The birds soon reached their destination and entered the gym; Robin let Raven in first not forgetting his manners and then he entered allowing the door to close behind him. Raven had turned on the light by then leaving the whole room illuminated.

"Start talking." Raven commanded, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Look Raven, I'm not sure if you will believe me about this but I'm not sure what to think about Roy now." Robin started seriously. "Even more so after what I just saw."

"Go on." Raven urged wanting to know what thing Robin came up with this time.

"After finding Roy's arrow stuck in Beast Boy's car I went directly to the forest to talk to him about that and ask him a few questions." Robin started to explain. "But I wasn't really expecting to see what I saw."

"Really?" Raven asked puzzled; she was pretty sure Robin hadn't seen her and Roy together and the tone he was using wasn't of anger or anything of the sort but it was more like a concerned one .Without giving him more expressions, she just raised an eyebrow ."What was that?"

"He had cuts, Raven." Robin answered. "All over his stomach."

"What?!" Raven asked, now really shocked. "You think he could have been attacked or something?"

"No, Raven;" Robin started, shaking his head. "What I think is that he did that by himself."

"What?" Now Raven was disbelieving. "You think he actually hurt himself?"

"Yes; that's exactly what I think." Robin said with a nod and then heard the girl sighing; she didn't believe him. "You don't believe me, do you?"

"Well," The sorceress started, looking Robin directly in the eye through his mask "It wouldn't surprise me if this was a lie; I admit you sound truthful but you do have a virtue for lying."

"This is not one of those times, Raven." Robin assured walking closer to her "I'm serious; those scars he had didn't look to be made by accident and most of them were rather small. The cuts were far too exact for them to be made by accident or by some attacker."

"How can you be so sure about that?" Raven snapped. "Did he let you examine them enough for you to get to that conclusion? Did he tell you anything about them?"

"Obviously he didn't say a word about it." The masked leader said, exasperated. "He wouldn't admit it; he just said it was none of my business and that no matter how many times I asked I was not going to get an answer out of him."

"Is that the best you could come up with?"

"Raven, this is serious!" Robin exclaimed, tired of her attitude; he was pretty sure she was acting that way because of how she felt about the ex-Titan and Robin started to feel jealous again. It simply was not fair; while Robin and Raven had to live together for a few years to develop any kind of relationship, Roy had won Raven over in a matter of days. He wasn't sure just how deep Raven's feelings for the redhead went but he was pretty sure it could compare to the ones she once had for him, feelings the masked leader wished hadn't disappeared but remained hidden within the sorceress "What do I have to do for you to believe me?"

"Robin, this is hard, ok?" Raven said, starting to pace around the room. "It's just that, you've always masked your emotions just like you mask your eyes. Even when we were… when we got closer to each other, there were times when I didn't know how much I could trust you; and now, after all that's happened with Roy and you… It's just hard."

"Hard, is it?" Raven turned away from Robin not daring to look at him, not under these circumstances.

"I'm sorry if it hurts, but it's the truth." Raven said finally, still with her back to Robin.

It was hard for her to say that, but she had to be honest, at least with that; she had never dared to tell that to Robin when they were dating but there actually were times when Raven felt she couldn't trust him simply because he didn't trust her. Many times she had let it pass but when he started to get jealous over her she knew she had had enough of his mistrust; how could he be jealous over her battling boys, talking to them or even of them looking at her even if it was only to make sure she wouldn't attack them? That was one of the most remarkable differences between Robin and Roy; Roy seemed to trust her more than Robin did. The little argument she had with the redhead just a moment ago was actually her fault, not his.

"Raven, look at me." Raven heard Robin say, she sighed and turned around to look at her masked leader, but almost immediately she noticed something different. "Will this help?"

"Robin…" Raven exhaled, only a few times had she had the chance to see Robin eye to eye like now; without anything to hide his blue eyes from her purple ones "But…"

"You said I masked my emotions as I did with my eyes." Robin started "Now I have my eyes un-masked and so you will no have doubt about my emotions."

Raven stared into Robin's eyes even when they were a few feet away from each other. To make sure Robin was being honest though, she walked closer to him to the point they were almost touching. Robin stayed immobile as Raven examined his eyes carefully, trying to see right through him. After a couple of minutes Raven took some steps backwards and looked down.

"Are you completely sure of what you saw?" Asked Raven a few seconds after it all happened. "Can you be sure he was the one who created the gashes?"

"Absolutely." Robin assured with a nod.

"Well…" The girl said letting her arms fall to her sides. "It is unexpected but not as shocking as I thought it would be."

"What do you mean?" The roles were reversed now; it was Robin's turn to be in the shadows.

"You do remember what happened when the Gordanians last attacked, don't you?" Robin nodded, not being able to say anything. "Roy is still horribly hurt about it."

"Still?" The boy asked. "But it has been so long; I thought he was over it already."

"Robin, don't be so hard on him." Raven said nearing her leader.

"But he needs to get over it; otherwise it'll affect him even more than now and it-"

"What if it was Bruce?!" Raven interrupted suddenly resting a hand on Robin's shoulder. "Imagine it was Bruce in Oliver's place; imagine it was him who died that day."

Robin stayed silent after that; the question had actually made him think about what would happen if it had been Batman who died that day and not Green Arrow. How would he feel then?

"I remember he was given some time off and I remember his team was always by his side, but you know what else I remember?" Raven asked and continued without waiting for a reply. "I remember there was a special group of people who supported him the most because they knew what it would be like to lose a mentor and a family member. That group was formed by Aqualad, Beast Boy, Kid Flash, Wonder Girl and you. All of you have mentors that took the role of parents as well and could understand better than anyone how Roy should have felt back then; it helped Roy a lot after Oliver's death, I know it did. I know you did."

Raven stopped talking and let everything sink in for Robin who wasn't saying a thing and his eyes seemed to be lost; they were dull.

"Do you have any idea..." Robin started a moment later "Of what Roy's role is in this whole ordeal?"

"To tell the truth, I'm not completely sure." Raven admitted shaking her head.

"What do you mean 'completely'?"

"Robin," Raven started. "I think I know what is happening but I need to investigate deeper and stop it before it becomes a real danger for everyone."

"But how about you?" Robin asked, worried "By investigating on your own you're putting yourself in danger and I don't want you to get hurt or something; I wouldn't be able to take it."

"Trust me, Robin." Raven said. "I've been going to the forest long enough for you to realize Roy is not going to hurt me."

"This isn't only about Roy." Robin explained "If it wasn't Roy who provoked Beast Boy's accident then there is someone else out there who could want to hurt any of us; you alone will give them more chance of hurting you."

"Richard." Robin was taken aback by the sound of his real name coming from Raven's mouth; only one time had she used his real name: The day they broke-up. "Trust me, this is different from other cases we've had to investigate before; this goes beyond whatever we've faced before: Not only are we in danger but one of our own friends might be into this in a different way than we believe and with Beast Boy in the hospital this is getting harder by the minute. Not even Terra's case was this hard. Please, I didn't trust myself before and that led us to a betrayal; now I want to follow what I feel in hopes of getting it right. Please, just for a while; if anything happens I'll come with you right away and you can do as you please with the investigation, I'm only asking you for some days… Only that."

Robin stared surprised; he hadn't heard so many words together coming from her since they had broken-up. Whenever they spoke after that, it had usually been short sentences as not to be with each other that long. Besides, Raven was almost pleading him and that was something he didn't like to see her doing; that was not like her. Robin knew she could defend herself; she'd proven that more than once, but it didn't take away the feeling of worry he had and even less, knowing that she was probably right about the case. It was simply not a normal case.

"I'll let you do it only if you keep your promise of calling me if anything happens." Robin finally acceded extending his hand for Raven to shake; she did so without hesitation.

"Will do." She said, letting go of her leader's hand "We better get back to the others and discuss this with the rest of the team."

"Sure." Robin replied, putting his mask back in its place. "Let's get going."

The way back to the others was just as quiet as the one they had made to the gym but it felt lighter none-the-less; as if that little talk had helped them calm their nerves a little bit about being alone with each other again. Something that made the situation better for Robin due to the fact he had managed to finish a talk with Raven without making her angry. Raven, on the other hand, wasn't as comfortable with it as he was; it was all making her more confused about her feelings for her ex and for her new boyfriend… Was Roy still her boyfriend anyway or did she just make them break-up a few minutes ago?

"Hey guys!" Raven snapped out of her trance the moment she heard Cyborg's voice; she hadn't even noticed the moment they had arrived at the main room "Everything cool?"

"Yes Cyborg, everything's just fine." Robin answered taking a seat at the table where the others were, he took the seat between Bumblebee and Aqualad while Raven settled herself between Cyborg and Starfire.

"So are you going to join us in the investigation?" Raven shook her head at the Atlantian who raised a questioning eyebrow. "You got grounded then?"

"Robin will let me make my own investigation for a while." Raven explained making everyone turn to the masked leader.

"Man, did she threaten you or something?" Cyborg asked, astonished. "You would never allow her to do something like that."

"This is different Cyborg." Robin said briefly. "But now let's get down to business; Raven, I'd like you to explain to us what you think would be causing the strange happenings."

"I can't actually give you a real explanation about what I suspect." Raven admitted with a sigh. "It's just kinda weird."

"You wanna know what's weird?" Cyborg asked suddenly. "I found one of Roy's puppets in my car."

"What!?" All the Titans asked, astonished.

"Are you certain of that, Cyborg?" Asked Starfire fearfully, Cyborg nodded.

"I saw it with my own eyes and I touched it; actually, I have it in my car right now." Cyborg said "That was the reason for me being late; I couldn't get to the hospital because the puppet jammed my motor. Fortunately it was nothing serious and I was on my way as soon as I took the puppet out."

"Cyborg, please tell me you're joking." Raven said rubbing her temples.

"I wish I could Rae, but it's the truth." Cyborg answered knowing fully well why Raven was so worried.

"But it can't be! I tripped over a puppet when I arrived at the Tower." Raven exclaimed walking towards the couch only to find the puppet under it as if hiding. Ever so carefully, Raven took the object out and showed it to her teammates. "It scared me to death."

"Cyborg," Robin started. "Did you check the puppet in your car for any DNA?"

"Just before entering the Hospital." Cyborg said with a nod. "But I got the same results I got with the one at the crime scene: Not a sign of it ever being touched except by Speedy… Roy… Whoever. But the weird thing is that the DNA on that puppet was two weeks old."

"So, again, we are stranded." Robin sighed looking down.

"How did the puppet get here anyway?" Bumblebee asked to no-one in particular. "And how did it get in Sparky's car? They can't move by themselves."

"What if they can?" Raven said suddenly. "This could be some kind of magic trick or perhaps this has to do with spirits."

"That would change a lot in Speedy's case." Aqualad said. "I mean, if the puppets actually could move by themselves –or if anyone was controlling them- it would mean Speedy is actually innocent and it was someone else's doing."

"But remember we still can't take Roy off the list." Robin said seriously. "Trust me, I do hope he isn't the one behind this but we have to keep looking for more clues before getting to a conclusion; it could still be him."

"You think he is still a suspect?" Cyborg asked, surprised. "He couldn't possibly get the puppets here."

"If we're talking about the fact that he may be able to do it then the answer is yes, now, if we talk about him actually doing it; that's another thing." Robin explained.

"How could he be able to do it?" Asked Aqualad, still not wanting to believe in the possibility of one of his friends hurting another one.

"His DNA may not be recognized by the computer anymore but we can't forget who he is; after being trained by Green Arrow and his methods, Speedy has been taught to think as a villain does in order to be always one step ahead from them and he also knows a lot of tricks that could allow him to enter the Tower." Robin said using Roy's former nickname to make clear he still thought that, no matter how much Roy had changed, he and Speedy were still one. "Besides, let's not forget the security systems have been acting weird lately."

"The intruder or intruders must have messed them up so they wouldn't be discovered." Cyborg spoke up. "Even the security cameras seem to be off lately."

"Then we suppose for the moment that the puppets do not transport by themselves but someone else might be delivering them to the Tower?" Starfire asked. "I propose we make a list of all the villains that might be capable of such things."

"Well; if we make a list of suspects and have to leave Roy in it I'd add Red X too." Raven said leaving the puppet on the couch and going back to her place at the table. "This is not something I imagine him doing but he is a lot like Robin, thus, making him a lot like Roy. He was able to get into the Tower once, he can do it again."

"I say we should add The Puppet King." Cyborg then said. "After all, he himself is a puppet and has all that magic stuff that he knows how to control."

"I recall the Mad Mod once was able to get into our home and make us breathe that sleeping gas to kidnap us." Starfire said suddenly. "He has proven he is also capable of entering our home if he wishes."

"I'll call Argent and see if she has any news of more unfrozen villains in case we think someone else could do it." Robin announced. "Let's leave Slade as our last suspect, much as with Red X; this isn't his style but we have to watch out for everything."

"I know he is supposed to be frozen and all but until Argent informs us if it's still true, we might as well add Control Freak to the suspects list." Aqualad spoke up earning questioning glances from the Titans West.

"Why?" Asked Cyborg and then he saw Bumblebee glaring at her teammate before sighing and answering herself.

"When you told us to watch over the city while you were away fighting the Brotherhood of Evil, control Freak kinda used the TV to enter and exit the Tower." She explained. "He can use that remote of his to transport anywhere as long as there's a TV there."

"Ok…" Robin started strangely; the Titans East had never told them about that adventure, but it seemed nothing got out of control so there wasn't any problems in that. "Well, seeing as Mumbo is still in prison, I guess that would be it with the suspects. Having that in mind I propose we start looking for any kind of clues that might lead us to a concrete answer."

"And meanwhile, Raven is going investigate if there's any kind of spirits in this whole mess." Cyborg pointed out. turning to Raven.

"Sure, just be careful Raven." Aqualad said, standing up. "We don't want anyone else in the Hospital."

"I know, Aqualad." Raven acknowledged as she saw him walking towards the kitchen. "Where are you going?"

"I'm hungry." The boy answered simply, continuing on his way.

"Me too." Bee said "Do you have anything to eat?"

"Sure." Starfire said also going with the Titans East to the kitchen, Robin followed after her. "Please feel free of helping yourselves with our edibles."

Raven and Cyborg saw them walking away and then the mechanic Titan turned to his teammate.

"Hey, Rae." He called. "Before going back to the Hospital, I looked for more info about the forest."

"And, did you find anything interesting?" Asked Raven leaning closer to him so the rest couldn't hear their conversation.

"There is more support on 'The Carver' theory." Cyborg said "Specialists had gone and looked for his spirit and they found a lot of other spirits but never that one. But the weirdest thing is that the energy in the forest has been so abnormal lately no-one dares to go in there anymore."

"What do you mean by abnormal?" Asked Raven curious glancing for a moment to the kitchen to see if the others were trying to listen to their conversation; fortunately they seemed to only be arguing over what to eat.

"The specialists say the supernatural waves have been moving a lot lately and they started noticing that just a little after we left to fight the Brotherhood of Evil." Cyborg explained quickly. "No-one has gone to investigate for about two weeks now because it scares them the way the waves are suddenly rising and falling; they tried to exorcize the place once about a month ago but they couldn't do anything about the spirits."

"That's weird." Raven said aloud "These spirits must be stronger than what I thought."

"And still you didn't feel them." Raven looked the mechanical Titan in the eye, surprised by his words, she stayed quiet to see if he had anything else to say; he had. "You have been going to the Forest more than anyone else on the team; and you never said a word about them."

"And you're right Cyborg." Raven sighed disappointed in herself. "I never felt them and I don't know why."

She was waiting for Cyborg to say something to her but he remained silent, the girl could see from the corner of her eye that he was just staring at her waiting for something else from her. Sometimes she just hated her teammate for being able to read her that well as it happened with Robin and sometimes Beast Boy. Could she have lost her mysterious self already?

"They seemed to be hiding or something because, even though I could feel strange waves coming from within the forest, I never actually found any spirit either." Raven admitted. "Besides, I kinda forgot about that when I discovered Roy was living there."

"So you forgot about the forest and its inhabitants when you started to see Roy." Cyborg said aloud with a chuckle. "He must be something special."

"Its inhabitants?" Raven said aloud ignoring the last comment "That's who they are; the Forest's inhabitants…"

**I fantasmi mi lasciano le cicatrici, cicatrici che non posso cancellare**

**Raven and Robin seem to get closer to each other but do you think that's a good thing or a bad thing? ****And more about the forest was discovered, but Raven never felt the spirits before… Wonder why?**

**Ok, this is it for the moment; I'll start with the next chapter right away but I'm also with the other updates so I hope I can finish soon. Please review in the meantime.**

**The phrase says: **The ghosts leave me scars, scars I cannot erase.

**Coming up next chapter:**

"The Carver?" Robin asked with a hand on his chin "So that's why Raven says there might be spirits in this whole ordeal."

"This is just part of the reason, Robin." Cyborg explained "I'm pretty sure she has already something in her mind but she's not sure if it's true yet; that's why she isn't completely clear with her explanations."

/…/…/…/

"So this is how it looks from the outside." Aqualad said taking a look at the metal wall before him "This is where Speedy is living at the moment."


	22. Capitolo ventuno

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the TT or 'The Carver' by Jenny Jones.

**Where we left: **"So you forgot about the forest and its inhabitants when you started to see Roy." Cyborg said aloud with a chuckle. "He must be something special."

"Its inhabitants?" Raven said aloud ignoring the last comment "That's who they are; the Forest's inhabitants…"

**Now with the story…**

**Più in ritardo ottenete qui il meglio che sarete per me**

**Chapter 21**

**: The next day:**

"Now what the hell am I going to tell him?" Raven asked out loud as she finished dressing up to go to the forest and try to explain the things to Roy just the way they were without angering him even more "I didn't use the right words yesterday and we ended up yelling at each other, what can I say for him to understand what I mean?"

"You know, if someone hears you talking to yourself they'll think you're crazy."

"Cyborg!" Raven exclaimed surprised; the taller Titan had startled her by appearing just like that in her room "Don't ever do that again!"

"Sorry." Cyborg replied with a smile "Your door was half open and I just decided to enter… But I do have to wonder if anyone else noticed it was half open before I did and decided to peek while you were changing."

"Don't even mention it." Raven said closing the door with her powers very ashamed for what Cyborg had just said "But I don't understand it, I was sure it was closed just before I started changing; I never opened it… And why didn't it close itself anyway? That's why they work with electricity."

"Haven't you tried to turn your light on?" The other Titan asked nearing the window with some kind of metallic sheet that Raven hadn't noticed before even though it was rather big; that only made her realize how distracted she actually was being that day "There's no electricity; we have to open and close the doors by ourselves."

"Great, just what I needed." Said sarcastically the girl with a roll of her eyes before changing the subject "So now I get to have a metallic window?"

"I'm sorry Raven, but this will have to do until we finish the case." Cyborg explained already using fire to stick the metal to the glass "You know we don't have a lot of time to spare and I need to help the others with the investigation."

"Yes, I know."

"By the way, what was that you were babbling about?" Raven's eyes widened at the question, was he asking because he really hadn't hear her or was he trying to make her confess; Cyborg wasn't looking at her so she really couldn't tell what he was feeling.

"Nothing."

"You had a fight with Roy, didn't you?" The statement didn't make it any easier for her to hide the fact she had more things in mind than just the puppets "What happened?"

"It was only an argument, and it was because I tried to explain him what I thought about the case and accidentally hurt his feelings, now he hates me and I'm not sure if he'll talk to me today." Raven explained quickly just telling him the important part.

"Well, if memory serves right; you had the same problem once with your first boyfriend," Cyborg said finishing with his work "And you solved it, why can't you do the same with your new boyfriend?"

"What do you mean my _new boyfriend_?" Raven asked pretending to be annoyed about it but, on the inside, she was suspecting the worse, did Cyborg knew about her new relationship with Roy already? They had just been dating for a day… Or perhaps half a day depending on how much the argument had affected them both.

"Don't try to lie to me Rae, I know you better than anyone in the Tower." Cyborg commented resting a hand on the girl's shoulder "I can bet you shared your first kiss already."

"Can you just keep all that for yourself?" Raven was feeling really uncomfortable with the situation and didn't want to hear whatever her "big brother" wanted to tell her about Roy.

"So you did kiss him already." Cyborg had to duck a pillow thrown at him, perhaps it was a soft object but, when Raven used her powers to throw it, it could hurt… A lot "Hey!"

"I told you to shut up." Raven said with a shrug as if she wasn't sorry at all.

"I'm going to tell Robin this right now!" Cyborg threatened turning on his heal only to be stopped by a very scary shadow appearing in front of him stopping him dead on his tracks.

"_You do it, you're dead._"

"Geez Raven, I was only joking." Cyborg admitted raising his hands up in defeat "You need to take things lighter."

"All right, but don't tell anyone else about Roy, especially Robin." Raven warned pointing a finger to him "If he finds out about this he won't let me continue the investigation on my own and I'd hate to leave him unconscious with my powers."

"As if you hadn't done it before." The metallic Titan commented with a knowing smirk and a raised eyebrow "And admit it, you just love to see our fearless leader sleeping peacefully without that characteristic frown of his."

"I don't find the amusing part." Raven said simply "And you won't either if you keep bothering me with that."

"Are you threatening me?"

"Not necessarily," The girl replied "This is more like a promise."

"All right." Cyborg chuckled "By the way, we're about to have breakfast, care to join us?"

"I'd rather go to the Forest first-"

"I think it would be better if you had breakfast with us." Cyborg interrupted his friend "It may help you with Robin and his authorization to continue investigatin' on your own, y'know?"

"He already told me I could do it, Cyborg." Raven commented a little confused by what her companion had just said "I don't need his authorization anymore."

"Not to start the investigation, but to_ maintain_ it." Cyborg corrected.

"What do you mean?" Raven asked with a quirked eyebrow not quite understanding what Cyborg was getting at.

"Maybe you didn't notice," He started explaining "But after that little chat you and him had yesterday when we got back from the Hospital he seemed to be in a better mood than he has been the past few months, most of all; since he discovered Roy was living in the forest."

"You think?" Raven asked curiously, she actually hadn't noticed it, perhaps it was because she was too concentrated in Cyborg's tale to even bother to pay attention to her surroundings; those forest's inhabitants were occupying almost all her thoughts… The rest of her mind was occupied by Roy and how she could tell him what was happening according to her "I didn't notice."

"And I wouldn't have either if it wasn't for the fact that he actually asked me what I wanted for dinner." Cyborg admitted shrugging "But if we want him to stay that way, come with me for breakfast."

"All right, but I'll stick with the tea, I'm not really hungry today." The gothic girl admitted with a shake of her head.

"You are almost never hungry." The boy commented with a smile "But I guess that'll be enough, as long as you don't leave the Tower before we all do."

"_That_ was not part of the deal."

"You should know by now to read in-between the lines when talking to me." Raven sighed in frustration, but she had to do as Cyborg said if she wanted to stay on Robin's good side.

**Più in ritardo ottenete qui il meglio che sarete per me**

**: Later that day:**

"Raven, remember that if anything happens, you will call immediately. Ok?"

"Yeah, Robin, I know; you don't have to remind me that every five minutes." Raven sighed exasperated; truth to be told, Robin really was in a better mood than he had been the last few days, but he still was very protective and kept reminding her during breakfast that she promised to call him if anything bad happened and that was starting to irritate her "And, anyway, my communicator will be on the whole time in case you need to call me to remind me that as many times as you want."

"Sorry Raven;" Robin apologized sighing tiredly "I'm just still nervous about it."

"But it was precisely this kind of attitude what led you to be so possessive and exactly what led me to treat you as a lunatic."

"Yeah, yeah; I know." The masked leader admitted "All right, I'll see you later then."

"Sure." Raven assured with a nod "Don't worry so much."

Raven turned her back to Robin to face the forest, from their spot on the roof they could see the trees even more naked than the day before; signaling the winter was near. The roof was still wet from last night's storm; the dirt would probably be mud, she was now glad of being able to levitate otherwise she would need to wash even more clothes.

"_Robin, we're ready to leave." _Both Titans heard Cyborg's voice say trough Robin's communicator, the boy picked it up to answer.

"I'll be down in a second."

"You better go with them;" Raven started turning back to her leader "The sooner we get this over with the better."

"You're right." Raven nodded at her leader and turned around to leave, but just as she was about to star levitating, she felt her hand being grabbed by a gloved one; she looked back at her leader who stared back at her "Be careful."

"Always." The girl replied with a little smile taking her hand away from Robin's and flying towards the forest, not noticing the moment she started to gently rub the hand Robin had held a moment ago.

**Più in ritardo ottenete qui il meglio che sarete per me**

**: With Robin:**

Robin got out of the elevator and saw the rest of the Titans waiting for him in the garage, he took in a deep breath and directed his attention to the others.

"Ok guys, everyone knows what to do, right?"

"I am going to visit Beast Boy to the hospital to make sure he does not feel alone and to keep him informed about everything that happens with the investigation." Starfire said with her hands neatly folded in front of her.

"I'll look around the forest from the skies; all around the place and around the place the accident took place." Bumblebee said moving her wings slightly, Aqualad continued.

"I'll focus on the north side of the forest."

"And Robin and I are focusing on the south." Cyborg finished looking at his leader who nodded back at him.

"All right team, remember we need to watch out for anything unusual and inform the others immediately if we find anything that might lead us to the bottom of this." Robin instructed seriously "Communicators on the whole time and, please, don't take risks. We saw what happened to Beast Boy and if there is someone behind all of this they might be able to do it again, understood?"

"Understood!" The new temporary team nodded, Robin nodded back.

"Very well, let's get going."

Aqualad and Bumblebee walked towards the T-car to take the back seats, Starfire floated alongside them only to accompany them; she was going to fly all the way to the hospital the moment the garage was open. Cyborg stayed behind for a moment and patted Robin on the shoulder, letting him know he wanted to talk to him. Robin turned to look at his mechanic friend and waited for him to start; Cyborg sighed to arrange his thoughts before expressing them.

"Robin, I need to tell you something." Cyborg started, he wasn't completely sure if this was the best, but it was a decision he had taken last night "You know Raven's theory?"

"She says some kind of spirits is the ones behind this." Robin answered "That's all I know."

"You know the reason for her to be so insistent on it?" The masked leader shook hi head, very intrigued by his teammate's words "There is a legend about the forest, and I think you should know about it."

"So, what does it say?" Robin urged very interested on that, maybe that would help them with the investigation too; if Raven was right on her way of thinking then there would be a possibility of helping her out with this.

"Hey Sparky!" Bee yelled from the T-car "Are we leaving anytime soon?"

"We'll be right there." Cyborg yelled back pretending to be annoyed by her "I'll tell you once we're alone; that way you can decide whether or not to tell the others."

"Deal." Robin acceded before walking towards the T-car.

"I hope I made the right decision." Cyborg sighed tiredly before following Robin to the vehicle "Raven, I hope you don't get mad if you find out Robin knows more than you do."

**Più in ritardo ottenete qui il meglio che sarete per me**

**: With Raven:**

Raven soon reached her destiny, landing softly outside the metal sheet in order of knocking alerting Roy of her presence. Smirks had started barking happily even before she raised her hand to knock, just then the wall moved and Roy appeared in front of Raven looking surprised.

"Raven, you came back!" The boy exclaimed pecking Raven on the lips "Look, I'm sorry for the way I reacted yesterday."

"You don't have to apologize." Raven said quickly before Roy could say anything else "It was my fault, I should have known it wasn't the best moment. And I didn't mean to say what you thought; I was only trying to explain what I think about the case but I never meant to say that you would ever do something like that; I swear."

"I know, I know; and now I'm ready to listen to you and don't jump to any conclusion until you're done." Roy promised pulling Raven into his camp by the hand, not bothering in putting the 'door' back in place.

"Thanks." Raven thanked sitting down on the bed "I thought you wouldn't talk to me after what happened yesterday."

"I thought the same thing." Roy admitted sitting beside her "I even thought about going to the Tower to talk with you."

"You would actually have done that?" Raven asked amused.

"Hey, you mean more to me than a jerk leader or making front to my past for a moment." Roy said pressing his forehead to Raven's.

"So, we're cool then?" Raven asked to make sure everything had been solved, Roy nodded and kissed her cheek.

"Never better I'd say." The boy answered taking his forehead off hers so they could be more comfortable "So, what were you trying to say yesterday?"

"Right." Raven nodded and started the tale "Remember I told you yesterday that there could be something more in all of this?"

"Yes."

"Ok, what I meant to say is that I think the crime wasn't committed by a living person; I think there might be spirits behind all of this."

"Spirits?" Roy asked curiously "As in ghosts and stuff?"

"Exactly." Raven said "I felt a strange presence sometime ago and asked Cyborg about the forest, he's been investigating ever since and has found some legends about this place; one of them has to do with a ghost who is supposed to carry a knife with it."

"A knife, like mine?" Roy asked taking his knife from his belt and eyeing it "That's why you mentioned it yesterday."

"Yes, because maybe your knife is the one that belonged to him." Raven explained "I asked you yesterday to tell me how you got your knife to know if there was any possibility of it being the one 'The Carver' used to have."

"And what would change if that was the case?" Roy didn't quite understand but he seemed to be interested in the story.

"Think about it, maybe the Carver's spirit is trapped in the knife." Raven said intensely "If that was true then that would mean your puppets have been… Bewitched…. Taken over by that spirit; allowing them to move as the ghost wishes and, so, leading them to do things such as hurting Beast Boy."

"You think that could actually happen?" The ex-titan asked eyeing closely the knife "You know? Maybe that's right; this knife is pretty old but… Why here? Why in the forest?"

"Because the Carver was supposed to live here." Raven explained "And the legend says a lot of soldiers died here during World War Two; the lake was actually used to keep a bomb."

"And if the spirits of those soldiers are still here, maybe some of them could have taken control over the puppets too." Roy said catching up with what his girlfriend was saying "That could explain a lot of things."

"And that would prove you're innocent." Raven finished smiling "Robin believes there is a possibility of this as well, if I manage to prove him what I'm saying is true then he'll stop bothering you completely."

"I don't care what Robin thinks, I'm just glad to know you believe I am innocent." Roy said taking hold of her hands "Would you stay with me for a moment?"

"…Ok." Raven acceded with a nod "But only for a few minutes; I need to keep on investigating if I want to clean your name."

"Any amount of time with you is good enough for me."

**Più in ritardo ottenete qui il meglio che sarete per me**

**: Later**** with Robin:**

"All right Cyborg." The masked leader turned to his mechanic friend "What did you want to tell me?"

"Look, I've been helping Raven a little on this case for some time now; ever since a little before we recaptured Mumbo a few days ago." Cyborg started from the beginning of this whole mess "She was freaked out by the puppets and asked me about the forest, the day we went out and Mumbo attacked we went to check out the forest again but couldn't do much. I investigated deeper and deeper into it and I've found legends about ghosts living in the forest and how supernatural experts have come looking for one spirit specifically: The Carver."

"The Carver?" Robin asked with a hand on his chin "So that's why Raven says there might be spirits in this whole ordeal."

"This is just part of the reason, Robin." Cyborg explained "I'm pretty sure she has already something in her mind but she's not sure if it's true yet; that's why she isn't completely clear with her explanations."

"But what can she been thinking?" Robin wondered aloud, his teammate decided to reply.

"I'm not sure…" The taller boy stopped for a moment before sighing "Besides, there is something she doesn't know yet."

"What is it?"

"A specialist came here about four days ago to check out the place and he says that he saw the spirit of the Carver for two or three seconds before it disappeared, however; he says he doesn't dare to come again to investigate further at least for now." Cyborg explained "He says the energy he felt was so powerful it almost made him faint; in only a couple of seconds!"

"What are you trying to say?" Asked the masked teen already having suspicions on the matter.

"Think about it, if the spirit of the Carver actually lives here then that would add Raven's theory a little more credibility due to the fact that this ghost used his knife to carve dolls when he was alive and was a doll what we found on BB's car." The other boy explained "And, if the spirit is as powerful as this guy says it is it would lead us to think that Speedy is not completely guilty for this but that the spirit is the only who made him do this."

"As in taken over his body or something?" Robin questioned thinking if there could actually be a possibility of that.

"Maybe not his body but the puppets or Roy's knife or maybe even the spirit took control over his dog." Cyborg said quickly "You know this kind of things are complicated, Raven is the only one who mildly understands them; if she finds out that actually the answer to this mystery is a mythical one then I have no idea of how we would be able to face that."

"… Well, that would be a problem." The leader admitted before shaking his head "Well, we shouldn't think about it now; we need to continue our own investigation in case this turns out to be the way I thought it was."

"All right then, let's continue."

**Più in ritardo ottenete qui il meglio che sarete per me**

**: With Aqualad:**

"The only weird thing about this place is the fact that it's full with these horrible puppets." The Atlantian said aloud wishing he had brought a sweater or something with him; no, he was not cold, it's just that the puppets gave him the shivers "I can't actually believe they are all Speedy's doing, what is he thinking?"

Aqualad sighed to himself; he had talked last night with Bumblebee a little in his guest room after everyone had gone to sleep; they were worried about their teammate. It was just too weird; he remembered the first time –or what he remembered to be the first time- Speedy had gone to the forest. They had had a fight for some stupid thing Aqualad didn't want to remember at the moment while they were watching over Jump City sometime ago and Speedy stalked out of the Tower saying that he needed some fresh air because the whole Tower smelled like fish.

He appeared back in the Tower around one in the morning, Bumblebee was still waiting up for him because she was worried; he hadn't answered any of their calls and it was way too late for anyone to be outside. She had told Aqualad they should go looking for him after nine o'clock but he decided it would be better to let the archer cool down enough and that he would be back after he had let his anger out on something else rather than them. It was true, the next morning Speedy was calmer and they didn't fight throughout the whole week; however, the redhead had gone to the forest two more times and he usually prefers to watch TV rather than going out.

The weirdest thing was that he went back to that forest even after Kid Flash had taken the job of watching over Jump City. He went all the way from Steel City to this place at least three times per week; then he disappeared from the Tower more often than not until he finally decided to leave his team and home behind in order to live in the Forest of Otalu and quit to being a Titan.

Well, the moment Speedy finally said it none had taken it that well; the twins actually cried, Bumblebee was very upset that was for sure and, as for Aqualad, well; Speedy was the only boy in the Tower with whom he could actually maintain a healthy conversation when needed and now he was missing that. All the Titans East were missing him and the Atlantian couldn't help but wonder if Speedy missed them too.

"Ow!" Aqualad grunted waking up from his thoughts; he had walked into a puppet and it had fallen on his arms; the puppet was about Mas' or Menos' height if not a little smaller, but that didn't change the fact that it was still the creepiest thing he had ever seen "Ugh, this is so…"

The boy looked up and found himself few feet away from a dark metal sheet; it seemed to be a wall of some kind and there were quite a lot of puppets all around it, more than he would dare to count: All sizes and shades but they all looked the same to him. He didn't need to think about it too much to know where he was, and he wasn't sure if he was ready to be there. Swallowing back the lump on his throat and moving his mudded feet forwards, the Titan walked closer to the place he knew had the answers to his questions.

"So this is how it looks from the outside." Aqualad said taking a look at the metal wall before him "This is where Speedy is living at the moment."

**Più in ritardo ottenete qui il meglio che sarete per me**

**: With Raven:**

"I think this place will do." The gothic girl said to herself after finding a spot quiet enough to let her concentrate "Now, to block all the living creatures out of my mind and focus only on free spirits."

To be quite honest, Raven didn't want to leave Roy's side but she knew it was necessary; the sooner they solved the case, the sooner she could start to actually enjoy her new-formed relationship with the ex-Titan. Blocking Roy out of her head for the moment, Raven seated herself in the air Indian style –still not daring to get more clothes dirty- and closed her eyes ready for work.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos." Raven chanted softly, letting her mind wander free all around the forest in search of any spirits there might be in there.

**Più in ritardo ottenete qui il meglio che sarete per me**

**: Back with Aqualad:**

**Knock! Knock!**

Well, it was more like a bang rather than a knock; Aqualad was really nervous about it all and he couldn't quite control his strength when knocking the door. He was just hoping Speedy wouldn't be mad at him for doing that; it would not help their conversation in the least. The wall started to move slowly to the side, until there was a gap big enough for half of his body to go through; he guessed the archer just wanted to make sure it was not an enemy knocking.

"Aqualad?!" The redhead asked surprised pushing his wall farther away so that he could see his whole body, a dog was by the ex-titan's side looking up at him curiously "Aqualad, what are you doing here?"

Aqualad took a moment to look at the person who was once his teammate; he was no longer wearing his uniform or mask, it had changed for a jacket, jeans, boots and shades. He looked so different only with that change. The archer also had a change on his face; it seemed more… Tired, somehow Speedy looked tired; his face was different from the one the Titan East was used to see. Or maybe it was just his imagination, or so he hoped.

"I'm…" Aqualad decided to pick his word carefully, he wasn't exactly invited to go over and it really must be weird for Speedy to see him standing there "Bumblebee and I came to visit Beast Boy and decided to stay and help with the investigation."

"So, were you sent here to interrogate me or something?" Speedy's voice suddenly changed from surprised to cold; as if expecting the answer to be a yes and yell back at him whatever came to his mind first.

"No! No, it's nothing of the sort!" The Atlantian started trying to control the boy in front of him "I was told to look for clues all around this side of the forest and I accidentally got here."

Speedy eyed him, Aqualad could tell by the way he stayed with his face pointing towards his own, he was looking for someway of telling whether he was telling the truth or not and it bothered him a little.

"Although," The black-haired teen started breaking the silence "I did want to see you."

"What for?"

"I need to talk to you for a minute." Aqualad confessed motioning to the camp "May I?"

**Più in ritardo ottenete qui il meglio che sarete per me**

**Sorry for the delay; I sent the chapter to my beta sometime ago but she's occupied and isn't able to check it at the moment so I uploaded the unedited version; that's why it isn't as grammatically correct as my latest chapters have been. Still, don't worry, I'll upload the new version as soon as I get it, ok?**

**Now guys, I have some news and propositions for you: I know you're always tired of waiting around for new updates so I'll give you homework. I just opened a blog for my productions (Fics and Videos), where I'll add updates on my work and it has links to Photobucket albums about my fics, however, I can't give a lot of pictures 'cause I suck at drawing (As you will see on the already existent drawings in the Wilson High Album.) So, you'll give me the pics for the albums of each and every fic I have uploaded.**

**And no, this won't be for free: If you actually send me a drawing (any drawing), I'll add the link to it in my profile until a new update. AND, if your drawing is original, awesome or wakes something within me, I'll add your very own character in one episode of the fic the pic is about. Yeah! It's true! I'll send you a message telling you to send me your character description and what would you like them to do in my story and (more or less) how would you like the scene to be; the character will have a little participation as long as it doesn't really affect the story. In the Author's Note at the end of the Chapter, I'll give the credit of the character to the original owner. The character can appear in more than one episode, but it can only be done with a special drawing (1 drawing= 1 chapter), ok?**

**You can find the link to the blog on my profile.**

**That's it for now, don't forget to review and leave your opinion on the chapter and I hope I can get many drawings!**

**The phrase says: **The later you get here the best it will be for me

**Coming up next chapter: **

"Cyborg?" Asked Raven surprised to see the mechanic Titan back; he was supposed to go to the hospital with the rest after the investigation "What are you doing here?"

/…/…/…/

"Speedy, this is serious." Aqualad insisted resting a hand on the archer's shoulder "You've changed, was it because of us? Something we did?"

"Don't touch me…"


	23. Capitolo Ventidue

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the TT or 'The Carver' by Jenny Jones.

**Where we left:** "Although," The black-haired teen started breaking the silence "I did want to see you."

"What for?"

"I need to talk to you for a minute." Aqualad confessed motioning to the camp "May I?"

**Now with the story…**

**un pollice più vicino, un giorno più di meno****/ un pollice più vicino, un giorno più di meno**

**Chapter**** 22**

**: ****With Raven:**

"Where is it? Where is it?" Raven asked aloud, scanning her books' covers, her finger moving rapidly over each title trying to find the one she was looking for "I know it has to be around here somewhere!"

Raven's meditation and search in the Forest had actually given her more than she had expected: The Forest of Otalu was filled with spirits of all kinds, however, she could sense most of them had been strong spirits that walked aimlessly through the forest with more than a few wounds on their bodies –she couldn't see them but she could feel them, something, at the moment, she was grateful for- which was enough for her to tell they had been soldiers of some kind. But, there was something strange about all of them, normal ghosts were supposed to move freely around wherever they wished while these ghosts were walking in small circles around one or two trees and never went farther than that. She remembered reading something about that in one of her books and she instantly went back to the Tower to look for that book.

Another thing that was bothering her was the fact that she didn't find the spirit she wanted to find the most: The Carver. Not a sign of him, all the spirits she found had the same kind of energy and some of them were carrying some items but none had the supposed knife the Carver was supposed to carry around. It bothered her, that spirit was the one she supposed would be behind this all scheme but he was no-where to be found, was it possible that there was something else behind all this? If that was the case then she was as good as dead with Robin, everything she said the previous day only for all her suspicions to be fake; what was she doing then trying to regain his trust? How could she ever tell this to him after the long talk they had had before?

"Found it!" Raven exclaimed pulling the old green book out of its place and walking back to her bed, sitting near the old puppet still resting comfortably at the foot of her bed. She didn't really pay much attention to it at the moment, she was just careful not to sit on it, it would hurt her a lot with all the barbed wire and the hard wood and it was the last thing she needed at the moment "Now, what page?"

The sorceress scanned the pages rapidly, as her fingers moved the paper looking for the specific page she was looking for. Why did she care about regaining Robin's trust anyway? It wasn't as if she ever did something for him to be so paranoid about, and he had to be the one trying to regain her trust not the other way round. So yeah, maybe she was right in trying to take the first step, after all if there was anyone on Earth more stubborn than her it had to be the Titans' masked leader.

"Ouch!" Raven exclaimed looking at her finger, lost in her thoughts she had stopped paying attention to her hand and the result was a paper cut, not that deep, there was no blood coming out of it "Stupid- Oh, this is the page."

A little surprised from stopping on the right page even after the incident, the gothic girl started reading the old text quickly.

'_It is well known at this point of the book that the free spirits tend to travel throughout the whole world unless their tormented soul doesn't allow them to leave a specific place and even the__n, their moving space consists of how big the place they're inhabiting actually is. Their moving space must be limited only by them and nobody else, now that they're free from their solid prison the spirit has complete liberty of choosing their own path to follow if they have to stay on Earth among the living.'_

'_However there is one exception to that rule, while in open spaces the free spirits prefer to change their position, they might be unable to do so and it can only happen if there is one free spirit with enough power to limit the other souls' movement. This is rarely seen but not impossible and this power can last as long as the powerful spirit wishes to and he can use the other souls any way he wants.'_

"I knew there was something wrong." Raven exhaled "The spirits in the forest are being controlled and I can bet my life that the Carver is the one doing this but… But then why didn't I find that spirit?"

It was exasperating. Just plain unnerving that she couldn't find that lone spirit to finally solve the case and clean Roy's name and the only starting point she had was that she had to look in the Forest, yeah that was surely going to help her with this. Sighing tiredly Raven felt like eating something in order to help her mind relax, an apple or just any kind of fruit would be enough; she was too worried with the case to eat anything else. It might make her sick.

Leaving her book behind Raven walked out of her room, doors opening themselves now that electricity was working again, and towards the elevator. The tower was amazingly quiet even for her tastes. With Beast Boy in the Hospital there was no-one to convince Cyborg to play silly games around the tower making noise all around them without a care in the world. And the case was making everyone feel pressured for various reasons. The cold, windy and rainy weather autumn always brought upon the city just gave the final detail to the depressing atmosphere and Raven did not enjoy it in the least bit. Formerly she might actually like it a little bit but nowadays with all her new adventures with her friends and her romantic relationships this was not her idea of a nice afternoon anymore.

Go figure, in a little over a year her emotions had changed so much she was surprised with herself but it had all been for the better. When she first met the Titans a lamp would blow if she so much as sneezed and now she was able to kiss a boy without worrying about blowing up the whole city or the boy in question. It was true she had a personality that identified her among the team but it was also true even the civilians they protected had seen her change as years passed by.

She remembered the different reactions they received from the city and the other Titans when Robin and her announced their formal relationship; there were negative reactions, it would have been weird if there weren't but most of them thought it was a good thing by the way her attitude changed thanks to her boyfriend and even before the relationship was announced everyone had noticed her mood lightening quite a lot. Raven chuckled inwardly after remembering how unsure Robin and she were about letting the city know about them being together, Robin more than her because he feared villains might use the relationship to their advantage but the team finally convinced them to let the world know. Fortunately things weren't as bad as they thought it would be and the relationship lasted for a while until, well, that has been mentioned one too many times already.

And she wasn't about to give much thought to what happened after the break-up was known by the world. She hated the media. Ok so there were people who behaved decently and just gave a comment here and there but there were others she didn't even know why they had their show; oh wait, she did know, because people loved to criticize others just as long as no-one messed with them. They went from simple things such as bad communication because she rarely talks, to stuff like doubting their sexuality which was completely ridiculous. It just gave away what people would do to keep their jobs as stupid as they could be.

The girl looked up as she neared the double doors of the main room, she had to stop walking down memory lane now and focus on the present otherwise she might miss something important around her; at this point one never knows. The doors opened letting the Titan in, only to find that she wasn't alone in the Tower as she initially thought.

"Hey Raven."

"Cyborg?" Asked Raven surprised to see the mechanic Titan back; he was supposed to go to the hospital with the rest after the investigation "What are you doing here?"

"Seeing if I can find anything on the _lovely_ extra puppets we found yesterday." Cyborg replied, a sarcastic tone easily heard on the word 'lovely'. He was sitting in front of one of the computers, the results displayed on the huge screen before him so he could see everything better but his expression was not one of success, telling Raven his work was futile.

"Are the others back at the Hospital yet?" Raven asked not wanting to question her teammate about his research unless he decided to mention it himself, Cyborg shook his head not tearing his eyes away form the screen.

"Not all of them, Aqualad's still in the forest." The Goth girl raised an eyebrow at that, forgetting to go look for something to eat she walked up to her companion, standing behind him as not to disrupt him.

"What is he doing still in the forest?" Cyborg shrugged his big shoulders as he answered.

"When we called him to ask if he had found anything he just said 'I'm busy, I'll call you back' and hasn't answered our calls since then. But he seemed fine so we let him be, Robin will give him another hour to report back before sending Starfire and Bumblebee to look for him." Raven nodded, understanding the answer but not understanding what made Aqualad not answer their calls. It was strange, what could he possibly be doing to not reply to their calls? He'd need to explain himself later to everyone "Nothing again."

"Don't worry Cyborg, we have a few theories already, one of them has to be right." Raven assured resting a hand on her friend's shoulder, Cyborg sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"But which one Rae?"

**un pollice più vicino, un giorno più di meno****/ un pollice più vicino, un giorno più di meno**

**: In the forest:**

"You've had quite some adventures here." Aqualad said with a little smile, he was glad things were going so smoothly with the redhead. He had opted for starting a light conversation instead of asking about Speedy's decision right away so the boy wouldn't feel uncomfortable around him. He had to admit the tales were quite interesting and he found it funny to hear Robin was still acting jealous around Raven even after the broken relationship. He felt glad when the archer told him about him and Raven being together already, it made him feel as if Speedy still trusted him despite everything that had happened with them.

"Yes, I feel really happy being here." Roy admitted petting his dog that was biting down on one of his toys next to him on the bed "This was for the best."

"Are you sure about it?" Aqualad suddenly questioned making the other male lose his smile and turn to him with a curious look on his face.

"What do you mean?"

"Leaving the Titans, your friends and everything behind." The Atlantian explained looking into his friend's eyes, even through the shades he could feel Speedy's eyes staring into his "Good things have happened to you but, are you sure you want to stay here? Never go back to your life as a hero?"

"Aqualad," The shorter boy started standing up from his bed and walking to the center of his camp, his back to the dark-haired teen "Those days are long gone and I am not even considering going back to them again, I'm better off this way."

"But saving people was your life." Aqualad said also standing up but staying by the futon "You loved doing that, that's what you were trained for."

"Yes I was trained to fight those who opposed our beliefs but I have chosen an early retirement instead which shall be the best for me for my life will be more peaceful in the future this way." Aqualad was surprised at hearing his friend express himself in such away, Speedy ha always said Starfire needed to learn how to speak less proper English because she was sometimes tiring with the formal terms she always used but now it was the redhead himself who had spoken just like the alien princess would do. Why would he speak in such a way? It must be a joke, he was probably trying to lighten the mood while still staying true; this however only made the Atlantian want to inquire further and so he walked closer to the other teenager.

"Speedy, this is serious." Aqualad insisted resting a hand on the archer's shoulder "You've changed, was it because of us? Something we did?"

"Don't touch me…"

"Speedy please, I need an answer." The Atlantian still hadn't taken his hand off the ex-Titan's shoulder and he felt the latter's muscles tense even more than they were before surprising him once again with the reaction.

"Don't call me that, I am not a hero anymore I'm just a person who wants to have a normal life. You shall call me Roy from now on if you ever talk about me again." Now Aqualad was startled, the voice, it was so hollow, so dry, nothing like the voice he was used to hearing from the archer, nothing at all like it. Not even when he had been depressed over Green Arrow's death had his voice sounded the way it did now. The physical touch was finally stopped as Aqualad took his hand away from Speedy's… Roy's shoulder.

"So this is it?" The Atlantian asked seriously "You're just going to forget about everything, your past? Pretend it never happened?"

He received no acknowledgement from the shorter boy; he stayed immobile with his back still to his former teammate. Aqualad sighed exasperated, he couldn't believe what Speedy was doing: He never quit, he loved saving people, he loved competition, he loved fighting the bad guys and he hated cowards but now, right at that moment, he was acting just like one, running away from the pains of his past instead of getting over them and going on with his life. Aqualad's once shocked face now wore a frown, he was not going to accept this treatment from the archer.

Reaching out for the ex-titan's arm, Aqualad grasped the stiff limb firmly and forced him to turn to him as he started talking again.

"Running like a coward won't make things- argh!"

**un pollice più vicino, un giorno più di meno****/ un pollice più vicino, un giorno più di meno**

**: At the hospital:**

"And that's why this guy is like the best director ever!" Beast Boy exclaimed after explaining to Starfire why his favorite film director was the best film director. Starfire nodded not quite agreeing with her friend's arguments but respecting them none-the-less.

"And this is your preferred film feature created by him, is it not?"

"Totally, this is his best work so far." The changeling nodded as much as he could before looking back at the screen. The two were watching a movie on the TV as they waited fro Robin and Bumblebee to appear, they had called not long ago telling them only both leaders were going back to the hospital. Cyborg had wanted to go back to the tower and look for anything on the puppets that might help them solve the case while Aqualad was still in the forest doing who-knows-what and decided not to answer to any call from their friends. They just hoped he was fine and that he had been busy finding some useful clues.

"I'm a little hungry." BB whined earning Starfire's attention who cocked her head at him.

"You consumed the afternoon meal thirty minutes ago." The girl pointed out, but the boy just kept whining.

"But I'm watching a movie and when I watch a movie my stomach calls for popcorn and I have no popcorn to watch the best movie ever made!"

"Stop whining or you'll get yourself kicked out of the hospital for being so noisy." The two Titans in the room turned to the source of the voice to see Robin entering the room followed closely by Bumblebee who waved at them, BB frowned playfully.

"As my team leader you should make sure I'm comfortable here and get me some popcorn for the movie." Robin rolled his eyes behind his mask.

"As your team leader I should make sure you're completely healed as soon as possible meaning I should just take away the remote from you and make you take a nap now." Beast Boy pouted at that but he couldn't help but feel Robin was much more relaxed than he had been during these last days. He was even joking and he wasn't frowning or yelling or anything of the sort. He actually looked more like himself now than during the last week; it was so good seeing him like that once again.

"How are you feeling Beast Boy?" Asked Bumblebee after greeting Starfire properly, the questioned boy's gaze turned to her.

"Fine, the pain-killers help me with… well… The pain but I won't be fine until my face looks the way it's supposed to look." He answered still pouting "I had such a handsome face, what will my fans say when they see me like this?"

"They'd be disappointed but they do support you a lot." Robin said looking around the room, there was quite a number of presents scattered all around, from balloons to plushies and a mountain of 'Get well soon' cards. It was obvious all those were from fans but Robin was surprised to see that many gifts in such a short period of time "I hope you'll get this all in order in your room once we take you back to the tower, more stuff to add to your disastrous room and anyone will think Armageddon happened in there."

"Gee thanks." The green boy said sarcastically before changing the subject "Did Cyborg find anything useful?"

"He called us before we got into the room but he got nothing that might help us with the case." Robin admitted shaking his head "Unless Aqualad finds anything new we're stuck."

"What about Raven?" Beast Boy asked, Starfire had already told him Robin had allowed her to make an investigation on her own. At first BB had thought Raven had drugged Robin and made him give the authorization so now he wouldn't be able to back out but the Tamaranian assured Robin did it without the necessity of the drugs and had acceded as long as Raven kept her communicator on and with the promise she would call if she was in danger "Has she found anything yet?"

"Well we just talked to her after Cyborg said what he had to say and she said there were some interesting things in the forest." Robin said remembering what Raven had told them, he was actually happy Raven decided to talk to him about her discoveries; it made him feel more comfortable with the idea of letting her explore on her own. And even if anyone wanted to help, they would only be a boulder for they knew nothing about dealing with spirits "But not enough, she says she needs to find just one thing so she can explain what's happening in the forest."

"What is it she needs to find for the mystery to be solved?" Starfire asked interested in her friend's advances on the case, anything was good at the moment.

"She didn't tell us anything yet, she said she wanted to find it first and then she would tell us everything." Bumblebee was the one who answered this time, trying to get into the conversation, she then turned to the boy lying on the bed and ruffled his hair "She also said she was very sorry for not coming today to see you but she promised to come as soon as she could."

"She's busy so I have no problem with that." BB said faking a happy smile, Cyborg was not going to visit him that day, Raven was not visiting him that day and Aqualad still hadn't come back from his investigation. At this rate it wouldn't be long until he was left alone in the hospital with no visitors.

"Aqualad was acting strange though, I wonder why he just told us he would call us back and not answer the other calls." The female leader said out loud remembering the way the Atlantian reacted moments ago, it was strange he ignored calls but he must have been doing something important for him to do so; Bumblebee knew that much of him.

"Don't worry too much, I bet he just decided to go for a swim or something." The green teen proposed however he himself wasn't so sure about what he just said he just wanted to lighten the mood. Besides, he knew that, even if no-one would admit it, everyone had a pretty good idea of what he might be doing in the Forest alone and why he decided not to answer calls. It must be something important to him.

Bumblebee didn't reply to Beast Boy's comment just sighed inwardly. She herself would have liked to go have a little chat with a certain redhead earlier that day before heading back to the Hospital but decided against it, for she was still feeling pretty upset with her former teammate for quitting the way he did and if she let her temper get the best of her who knows what could happen and she had been told by Robin he was acting somewhat colder if treated with hostility and she didn't feel like facing him that day. It was just not the time. It had possibly been for the best Aqualad was the one to talk to Roy Harper –as Robin told her the archer preferred to be called as nowadays- first, out of the remaining Titans East he was the one who seemed to take the news the best and would be able to control himself while trying to get some much needed answers.

"I hope we hear of him soon anyway or I'll have to ask Starfire and Bumblebee to go look for him." Robin said turning around and taking a look at the movie, yeah it was one of the movies he hated.

_***knock* *knock***_

"Come in." The four people in the room called at the same time. The door opened and a nurse peeked in before entering the room, her face looked worried and a little shocked.

"Sorry to interrupt but I need you to come with me." The young nurse said softly, it was obvious she was new in this. Beast Boy groaned.

"More tests to run?" He asked ready to cry if he was to be taken away when the climax of the movie was nearing but he felt somewhat relieved after seeing the nurse shake her head.

"No I need the other Titans to come not you." The three healthy Titans looked curiously at each other but decided it would be the best to do as she said they had nothing to lose.

"We'll be right back Beast Boy." Robin promised making his way to the door, the girls following after him. The green hero decided to not reply and focus on the movie instead, he was curious as to what the nurse was going to tell them and wondered if it had something to do with him and his recovery. He was just hoping everything was ok, he didn't feel like staying in the hospital anymore, he just wanted to go back to his home with his friends and save the city again alongside them… And, of course, have his looks back but that was the last thing that mattered at the moment.

Thinking about it in a negative way might jinx the whole thing so he decided to forget about it and go back to his movie while he waited for the rest to go back with good news.

**un pollice più vicino, un giorno più di meno****/ un pollice più vicino, un giorno più di meno**

**: With the other three Titans at the Hospital:**

"Excuse me miss, did you call us for something related to Beast Boy?" Robin asked the nurse once they were all in the elevator, the nurse shook her head not looking at the local hero.

"Beast Boy is recovering fine and he has behaved so far with the nurse who is taking care of him, or so I've been told." She answered, before the other Titans could ask she continued knowing the question was coming "I think it would be better if you saw this rather than me trying to explain it."

The teenagers stayed quiet after that with no idea of what was happening but knowing they wouldn't get an answer if they asked. Soon the elevator got to the lobby where emergency rooms for non-lethal wounds were situated at, the nurse walked out of the elevator and towards one of the doors which she opened without knocking, the heroes no far behind her. Once they got in they saw it was a large room which had curtains to separate one patient from the other, there was room for 8 nurses to work comfortably enough. However, what caught their attention was the one patient sitting closer to the door to their left.

"Aqualad?!" Robin, Starfire and Bumblebee said in chorus, making the after mentioned boy turn to them over his shoulder as the young nurse left without another word.

The three newcomers couldn't believe their eyes: There he was, the Atlantian warrior shirtless with a wounded shoulder which was being sutured by a male nurse. The wound didn't look deep but Aqualad seemed to have lost quite some blood judging by the bloodied gauzes on the table next to where the nurse was seated at. The gash seemed to start in the middle of his left shoulder and went all the way to his left shoulder blade in a firm line.

"Aqualad what happened to you?" Bee asked her teammate nearing him quickly along with her companions, Aqualad forced a small smile.

"Don't worry, nothing serious." He assured but his eyes betrayed every word making his leader inquire further.

"Nothing serious?" She asked unbelieving "Aqualad you have a nasty gash on your back and all you can say is 'nothing serious'? You don't really expect me to believe that, do you?"

"I was hoping you would." He admitted sighing and lowering his gaze, it was obvious she wouldn't believe him but he still tried to act natural. Then again, with the gash on his back it would be difficult to get away with it easily.

"How did it happen?" The dark-haired girl asked lifting Aqualad's face with her hand in order of making him look at her, he usually was a good liar unless he was upset and he was definitely upset at the moment so any lie could be easily discovered by her then and she knew her friend knew that as well as she did.

"You don't want to hear it." The wounded teenager said with a sad look on his face, he knew telling the truth would only cause more trouble and he didn't feel like talking about it, the shock was still too strong for him to handle. Yet, considering his reply and the look on his face, Bumblebee needed to hear no more and neither did Robin and Starfire who were watching all this closely.

"He actually did this to you?" The Titans East leader asked seriously, her face wearing shock and anger at the same time. One part of her didn't want to believe her old teammate would hurt one of his old friends but the other part was thinking on the present and how the raven-haired boy was sitting there at the moment showing them evidence of what had happened.

"It was partially my fault but…" Aqualad made a pause not sure of how to continue, he looked away from his leader not feeling comfortable looking into her eyes anymore "I think he over-reacted."

Bumblebee exhaled and stood straight up with her eyes closed trying to organize her ideas. She couldn't believe it, she just couldn't believe the redhead would go so far as to hurt one of them, one of his closest friends and do it just like that as if he had been facing a criminal or an enemy. Roy Harper had apparently decided to snap at the Atlantian with a quick movement of his hand and slashing through the latter's uniform and skin with the knife he used to create the horrendous puppets she had seen in the forest earlier that day. It didn't matter if Aqualad said it was partially his fault, that was no reason for this to happen.

"How was it partially your fault?" Starfire was the one who asked this time after the awkward silence that had surrounded them since the last time Aqualad spoke which had been a couple of minutes ago. The nurse was almost done with the wound by this point.

"Well I found his camp by accident and decided to pay him a little visit. I really wanted to know why he did what he did and the best way to find out was to ask him personally so I knocked and asked to have a word with him, which he allowed." The questioned boy started his story slowly and with an even voice as to not let his feelings show "It started out pretty well, we talked for a while just like we used to and then… Then I brought up the subject of him leaving."

Starfire nodded understanding and urging him to continue, neither Bumblebee nor Robin were looking at the story teller for they both had their back turned to him standing opposite to each other but he was sure they were listening to every word he was saying. He took a deep breath and continued.

"He suddenly turned cold and stood with his back to me telling me that he had made his decision and it was final. I started to get mad and took his arm forcing him to turn around and this happened." He finished motioning to the now closed and patched-up wound, he nodded thankfully to the nurse receiving the same movement as a reply before the elder male took the table and moved it away from there so he could clean everything up and give the Titans some privacy "He felt pressured and decided to do this to shut me up."

"What happened afterwards?" Starfire questioned, pretty shocked herself but determined to know what had happened with the boys then, Aqualad sighed, his gaze on the floor.

"He turned his back to me again and told me he wanted me gone and that I'd better not go back there for he was tired of me."

"Oh no he didn't!" Bee yelled furious to no-one, distracting the other 3 nurses that were working on other patients at the moment, they shushed her and she had to count to twenty to relax herself before speaking again in a more descent voice level "Why didn't you call us? We could have picked you up and taken you to the Tower."

"I tried but I had no signal, none at all." The Atlantian said shaking his head "I was going to go back to the Tower but I didn't know if anyone was there and if the electricity was back but what I did know was that I wouldn't be able to close that wound by myself so I called up some water from the rain that was starting to fall and came here."

"Ok wise decision." The dark-skinned female nodded although her expression stayed just as angry as before. She let out a long breath and turned to the one boy who still had to say something, his back was turned to them and his shoulders seemed tense and she just didn't want to know what he was thinking at the moment.

"Robin…" The brave one was Starfire who was the one who knew the masked leader the most and knew he had to say something on the subject "What is going to happen now?"

Robin didn't give any sign of acknowledgement, he just stood there like a rock for a couple of minutes in which the only sound was made by the other nurses working and little murmurs from the patients. The other titans there stayed quiet knowing it was not wise to say anything before the bird himself decided to speak up. Then, without advice, Robin walked out of the room not even glancing back at the confused faces of his friends for a second and closing the door firmly but lightly behind him. The remaining heroes looked among themselves and decided to stay in the room for a few minutes hoping Robin wouldn't yell at them. And just when everything seemed to be fine.

Once outside Robin let out a breath he had been holding and took his communicator in his hand. He knew what he had to do, even more so now after seeing Aqualad that way. He had tried, he really did try to see the facts from every way possible in order of solving the case not only the fastest way but also a way in which no-one close to him would get hurt. Now, all had changed in a matter of minutes, no more second thoughts, all had to be straight no matter how hard it was.

"Cyborg." Robin called through his communicator, using voice only being fully able of sounding even but knowing his face would betray his calm voice "Cyborg come in."

"_Cyborg here, what's the matter?_" The voice of the mechanic teen came through the yellow communicating device.

"Is Raven with you?" Robin asked, he needed both of his teammates to hear this and he also wanted to make sure Raven was in the Tower and not in the Forest by herself.

"_No, she's taking a nap._" Cyborg replied easily "_She said she needed rest and went to bed, she left her communicator with me so she wouldn't be woken up. I'll give it back to her when she wakes up._"

"Listen, make sure she doesn't leave the tower to go to that Forest again. Keep an eye on her and do whatever it takes to stop her from going there." Robin instructed in a very serious tone, tone he used when he was giving orders during important missions. Cyborg knew it was serious.

"_What is going on? I thought you had allowed her to investigate on her own already._" Cyborg asked, his voice full of curiosity and insecurity.

"We'll tell you everything when we get back to the Tower but as from this moment on…" Robin stopped letting out another breath full of exasperation and some disappointment but staying firm "Roy Harper is to be considered a dangerous civilian that can risk others' lives and he is also the main suspect in the actual case."

**un pollice più vicino, un giorno più di meno****/ un pollice più vicino, un giorno più di meno**

**Ok, that was a shocker. Even I was s****hocked and I wrote the chapter!**

**No, ok, no I wasn't that shocked but I wanted to add more to this. This never happens in the book but I felt that, if the case was to get more interesting, it had to happen. And of course, Robin just had to react this way and even Bumblebee is just pissed. Raven annoyed for not finding The Carver and Cyborg for no DNA proof and Starfire for it getting more complicated and Aqualad for becoming a victim and Beast Boy for not knowing what is happening. **

**Yeah too much is happening but with only 11 chapters left it had to get interesting. Although, next chapter you'll have a little rest, not much action but Raven's questions need answer even if she has to break her promise a little.**

**Thanks for reading and review if you please =)**

**The phrase says: **

**Coming up next chapter:**An inch closer, a day less

"The energy feels stronger…" Raven exhaled as she looked to the place before her, not knowing if feeling scared for the place she was sure the energy was coming from or relieved for finally finding something there "In Roy's camp."

/…/…/…/

"I will talk to her the moment she wakes up." Robin stated, void voice and expressionless face looking back at the worried dark-skinned boy who knew his leader had way too much emotion within him to think straight at the moment "This is way too dangerous for her now, she cannot work alone any longer and if I have to be chained to her to make sure of that so be it."


	24. Capitolo Ventitre

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the TT or 'The Carver' by Jenny Jones.

**Where we left:** "We'll tell you everything when we get back to the Tower but as from this moment on…" Robin stopped letting out another breath full of exasperation and some disappointment but staying firm "Roy Harper is to be considered a dangerous civilian that can risk others' lives and he is also the main suspect in the actual case."

**Now with the story…**

**Un'anima****caduto,****un dubbio****risorto/ Un'anima****caduto,****un dubbio****risorto**

**Chapter**** 23**

Rolling onto the left side, anxiety. Rolling onto the right side, nervousness. Rolling onto the stomach, curiosity. Rolling onto the back, worry.

"I can't take this any longer." Raven sighed exasperated before sitting up in lotus position on her bed, her sheets covering her legs from the cold since she hadn't changed into her PJ's to take the nap. The metal-covered hole was not helping the cold, fortunately the calefaction was working and even though it was raining the weather was the least of her worries.

Her nap had started out rather well, she had fallen asleep almost right after she set her head on the pillow but she suddenly felt heavy in her sleep and all her emotions made her head hurt to the point she no longer could go back to sleep no matter the position she decided to sleep in. Everytime the dark titan closed her eyes there was a flash of a memory concerning the case and always with a strong emotion accompanying it making her headache even worse. In the darkness of her eyelids she saw the first time she noticed the puppets hanging from the trees of the forest to Beast Boy in the Hospital, her first kiss with Roy and their first fight, her talks with Robin and Cyborg; but the one image that appeared more often was the face of one of those dreadful wooden dolls so close to her the only thing she could make out was the face, the body was completely out of her sight range. It was just frightening.

She had to go back to the forest, she just had to; she had to keep looking for the source of the energy she feared every time she went there no matter how long it took. It was a priority and it didn't matter if she hadn't been able to recover all her strength with her restless nap the fact she was still able to use her powers should be enough, her empathy should work well enough.

Glancing at the clock she realized she had been in bed for a little over forty minutes of which she was sure she had spent over twenty trying to sleep rather than actually sleeping. There was no way she could get a good rest until she solved the case and at this pace she would die from lack of sleep before she found the Carver; she was not allowed to stop it seems. Looking back down to the bed she had to suppress a cry of surprise when she found a wooden doll right by her hip with its face towards the wall but lying as if it had been comfortably sleeping next to her the whole time. With a movement of her hand she pushed it off the edge of the bed wanting to be as far away from it as possible; she was in no mood to look at the thing she had no idea why she had accepted in the first place.

… Wait a second, wasn't that thing by her feet when she had lied down? Great, now she not only was becoming paranoid with the forest but she was going insane with the moving puppets, by this point she was almost completely sure the puppets moving were not her imagination but that only made her all the more uneasy. So far this one hadn't done much but she would make sure to get rid of it as soon as she returned from the forest: There was no way that thing was staying in her bedroom any longer. She would also make sure to tell her teammates to get rid of the other dolls they had found around the Tower, maybe burning them would be a good idea.

Without giving another glance to where that creepy object had been mere moments ago the amethyst-eyed female got out of bed and walking to her wardrobe to get out her winter clothes so she could go out. The plan was simple: Getting to the forest without alerting Roy –otherwise there was no way she could focus enough on her investigation- and looking for the strongest source of energy she could find around the place in order of having a better lead on where to find what she was looking for.

Once dressed Raven glanced over at her nightstand looking for a certain yellow object she had promised to carry around at every moment. She found nothing and sighed tried to remember where she had left the device.

"Where's my commun- Ah right, Cyborg has it." She suddenly said almost slapping her forehead for forgetting something so important; sighing, the gothic girl made her way to the door suspecting Cyborg must still be in the common room either still researching or trying to do something to entertain himself while they waited for the rest of the team to return. She was pretty sure she would have been awakened by someone already if the rest of the Titans had returned being that everyone wanted to have this case over with already and before anyone else got hurt.

The door opened to let her go through but she stopped herself from walking through the doorframe. Maybe… Just maybe she shouldn't let Cyborg know she was awake and going out; it had been him who had suggested the nap in the first place saying she looked tired and needed rest to which she agreed. However, if she went to him in her current state she was sure Cyborg would forbid her form leaving the Tower; the restless sleep had made her even more tired and if there was anyone who would be able to tell that it would be her pseudo-big brother. She needed to leave now and she wasn't going to o anything dangerous anyway she was just going to investigate a bit more, she wasn't even thinking on talking to the redhead while she was there; she only had to make sure to be back before the rest of her team or there would be trouble for her and Cyborg.

With the promise to herself of coming back as soon as possible she walked to her window going right through it and levitating towards the Forest of Otalu.

**Un'anima****caduto,****un dubbio****risorto/ Un'anima****caduto,****un dubbio****risorto**

**: Back at the Hospital:**

"HE DID WHAT?"

"Beast Boy, please lower your voice." Starfire pleaded resting a hand on her green friend's shoulder, he turned to look at her for a second letting her know he had heard her before turning to look shocked at Aqualad who was now standing beside the other side of his bed dressed in his slashed uniform, being the only thing he had to wear at the moment, with Bumblebee next to him, Robin was standing closer to the window looking at the raindrops hitting the glass with a frown present on his face.

Beast Boy had noticed the change in the atmosphere the moment he saw the four Titans walking through the door and he was quick in noticing the slash in the Atlantian's uniform and the stitches well noticeable in the tanned skin. The infuriating aura Robin had around him, the irked one around Bumblebee and the very upset one around Starfire had told him whatever had happened to the Atlantian had to do with the case they were currently investigating and even more specifically; it had to do with a certain ex-titan. He thought he was ready to hear anything concerning the case and somewhere deep in his heart he knew what he was going to be told and yet, when the words were spoken out-loud, he had exclaimed shocked as if it had been a complete surprise which is what he wanted to believe.

"I… I…" Maybe it was obvious when they entered, maybe he was expecting it… but that didn't mean he had words to express all his doubts, his feelings and his thoughts "… Does it hurt?"

"The wound?" Asked Aqualad, he felt he needed to ask wanting to know if it was his physical mark the other teen was asking about or something else. He saw Beast Boy nodding after hesitating for a moment; that was all he needed to answer his unspoken question which needed an answer as direct as the question he had been asked "Maybe more than it should… or not as much as I thought."

"When will the stitches be removed?" This question was way simpler to answer.

"I have to give it ten days." The changeling nodded at the reply "I have to make sure it doesn't get infected though."

"This isn't supposed to be enough to have him arrested?" Bumblebee asked turning to Robin, she was beyond herself with all the different emotions running through her system and she would feel better knowing the redhead was being kept somewhere under constant surveillance; she tried really hard to keep her beliefs of the archer not being the one who could have been able to hurt Beast Boy but with this she didn't know how to keep up that way of thinking anymore. Besides, if he was taken out of the picture and this whole thing continued they would assume it had been someone else the one responsible for what happened to Beast Boy and that the ex-titan's only victim had been the raven-haired Atlantian.

"It's not." Robin answered not tearing his gaze from the glass "Roy is not completely stable, it could be blamed to an anxiety attack when he felt attacked in his personal space. And there is no proof of him being completely guilty to the attack to Beast Boy so we can't say we are arresting him for that either unless we find the final definite proof; an arrow and a puppet aren't much without DNA to prove it."

"You said yourself he has to be considered as a dangerous civilian, what's with that?" The Titans East's leader asked nearing the shorter male but keeping a safe distance should he decide to become more like Roy and react physically to anyone who got too close. She had heard from Cyborg that time when Robin himself had been having problems with his mind thanks to a certain dust that made him see Slade and she didn't dare to try her luck with the expression the masked teen was wearing at the moment; she was mildly relieved she couldn't see his eyes since she wasn't sure what kind of emotions they would give away.

"Aqualad has been the only one he has attacked so far despite his time of stay in the forest, he is to be considered dangerous but unless he attacks someone else we can't say he deserves imprisonment." Robin explained finally turning to the questioner, his urges to do something were just as strong as the ones Bumblebee was feeling but before anything he was a hero and he had to keep a fair treatment towards everyone, suspect or not "I understand how it would help us with the case if we kept him locked somewhere but we can't do that just yet."

"Then the plan is keeping everyone away from him?" The winged girl asked not quite satisfied with all this. Robin returned his gaze outside the window; yes, it was the idea. Being away from the archer might make their investigations on him harder to continue but he wasn't risking it, however there was still the spark somewhere within him Roy was only going through a breakdown like he had once and that the one behind Beast Boy's murder attempt –as they had been considering it- was someone else.

"For now we can't do anything else." Silence filled the room after that; it wasn't a comfortable silence but it felt necessary "One wrong move from our part and it could become dangerous if he is, indeed, guilty. The attack was towards Beast Boy which was one of the reasons it's hard to believe it was him; they have been still keeping up a good relationship even after Roy quit but now, attacking a former teammate, I believe he is able to hurt anyone."

"We shall not let him know about our growing suspicions, yes?" Starfire asked finally entering the conversation "It would make him more alert around us."

"He probably knows some kind of movement against him will come for this." Aqualad replied trying to stay as calm as he could "And knowing him he will expect Robin to do exactly what he's doing, the problem is, well; I don't think he will accept this easily, not if he actually feels anything for Raven the way he seems to."

"If that's true then what if…" It was Beast Boy again knowing the telepath was right in what he had just said and knowing already that whatever was happening between Raven and the former Speedy was serious for both parties therefore, promoting the possibility of what he was going to ask "If it's him who comes to us?"

"If he comes to us we'll take him in." The questioned bird answered evenly already thinking on the possibility of that happening and wanting to be mentally prepared for that "Under our own rules."

**Un'anima****caduto,****un dubbio****risorto/ Un'anima****caduto,****un dubbio****risorto**

**: With Raven:**

The search so far had gone way better than she herself expected. She wasn't sure how or why but all the energies seemed to have lowered considerably to the extent that she could almost not feel them at all however there was one that overshadowed all the others and that was the one Raven was following at this very moment being the only lead she had and she would take anything at the moment. She had to be careful though, she knew the spirit might be doing this on purpose leading her to a trap, there was also the possibility the spirit's guard was down and she hadn't been felt yet and if that was the case she had to let her empathy work at her lowest in order of staying hidden.

It was still raining forcing her to create a shield around herself, if she went back to the tower wet and she was caught there was no way she would hear the end of it mainly from Cyborg for going out without telling him and Robin for breaking her promise to him in more than one way. The girl was just hoping the use of her power for that wouldn't give away her position to the strong spirit in the forest.

She sighed levitating past the pond she had become too used to see after she went through the fence she had also gotten used to see… the fence… she could have sworn it was farther away from the pond than just the few feet it was at now but how could that be? Fences don't move… Then again neither do puppets, and she was sure as hell the puppets in the forest did move due to the spirits everywhere, even Roy himself was starting to believe there was a possibility of that happening so why not changing her mind on everything she thought she believed in?

This path was becoming awfully familiar to her, way too known in her eyes and senses and it would have been a good thing had it not been for a small detail; the puppets hanging from the trees were making her wary as always but her own knowledge of being completely alone made her all the more frightened forcing her to keep true to her promise to herself and finish this investigation as soon as possible in order of going back to the warm Tower she lived in, if possible, before her leader came back with the report on their own research which she was supposed to hear along with Cyborg.

A sudden jolt in the energy she was following made her snap out of her thoughts and focus on the path again, the energy had become even stronger than before in just a single second and she sped up towards the source not wanting to lose it and trying to be ready in case this was a trap. The wave became stronger as she went on but she was forced to stop dead on her tracks when she came upon a great obstacle that also seemed to be the end of her current journey.

"The energy feels stronger…" Raven exhaled as she looked to the place before her, not knowing if feeling scared for the place she was sure the energy was coming from or relieved for finally finding something there "In Roy's camp."

**Un'anima****caduto,****un dubbio****risorto/ Un'anima****caduto,****un dubbio****risorto**

**: In the Tower:**

"Hey guys, back so soon?" Cyborg called upon hearing the door of the main room opening and various sets of steps walking into the room, he turned the television off and turned around on the sofa to look at the newcomers. He raised an eyebrow after noticing only three Titans walking through the door "Where's Aqualad?"

"He needed to change into a new uniform." Bumblebee answered simply in a tone Cyborg had rarely heard her using making him all the more puzzled. He took a moment to look more closely at all his friends: Bumblebee had a deep frown present on her face which was technically foreign on her and she looked tired, Starfire had a downcast appearance all together from her eyes looking intently at the floor to her shoulders completely slumped something the princess never allowed herself to do, Robin was back to the pressured aura he had had the past few days even though his face was expressionless the stiff movements of his body told Cyborg nothing good had happened after the last time they talked before both leaders went to visit the changeling. He at first thought it may have something to do with Beast Boy and his recovery but they didn't seem depressed as much as they seemed upset, angered even.

Something clicked in the tall Titan's head as he remembered the last words he had heard from Robin that day: Roy, it had to do with him.

"What happened?" He asked tentatively standing up and walking towards the table both females were currently seated at, Robin was leaning against the kitchen counter with his arms folded over his chest, he was sure he would be receiving the answer from the green-eyed alien and he was proven right when it was her gaze that meet his.

"Roy hurt Aqualad." Short, direct, to the point and all the more shocking. The dark-skinned boy's mouth fell open upon hearing the declaration; Roy? The Roy who had been sharing time with Raven in the forest and who had recently declared his love to her? The one who was taking care of a lovable dog as if it had been his forever? The one who had formerly been one of the best teenage heroes out there? _That _Roy had hurt one of his closest friends?

"Hurt?" He asked when he finally found his voice, glancing at the silent leaders "What do you mean hurt?"

"He slashed Aqualad's shoulder." Starfire was the one who kept on answering only shocking Cyborg more, he had thought she was talking about a punch on the face or a kick somewhere but never would have he imagined it had gone to that. It was just not something he could picture in his head, he hadn't actually seen Roy's cold side the way Robin may have but becoming so physical in such a way… That was not the redhead he had once known.

"How could that happen? How's Aqualad?" The double doors of the living room opened once again letting the wounded Atlantian in. His uniform shirt had been changed into a clean one he always kept in the West tower in case it was needed, plenty of times would he need a change of uniform after a battle and his whole team kept spare uniforms in a closet in the West Tower in case anything ever happened.

"It could have been worse honestly, he didn't gash my chest at least." The raven-haired teen said walking to the table to join the girls, Cyborg had stayed standing beside them. He seemed to be taking this way better than the leaders; Starfire and Aqualad always were able to keep their emotions under control in most situations and he admired them for that. He was still too in shock to decide how to feel about this whole ordeal "He felt too pressured and he did the only thing he could think on at that moment apparently."

"Pressured?" Cyborg asked unbelieving at hoe calm the Titan East sounded with all this happening to him "What could you have possibly done for him to react _this_ way?"

"I didn't do as he asked me to when it came to his personal space." The questioned boy answered "He might have reacted in one of the worst ways possible but it could have been prevented."

"Why didn't you call for help?" It was a predictable question so Aqualad wasn't annoyed when he had to answer to that again, it was obvious Cyborg would be curious and he was sure to be asked some of these questions again when Raven joined them later.

"There was no signal." The water wielder answered sighing.

"Was that the only thing he did to you?" All heads snapped up at that, no-one had bothered to ask if the redhead had actually dared to do more than just that to his former teammate but relief washed over the present Titans when Aqualad nodded his head giving a positive answer.

"Fortunately it was only one attack, no need to worry about anything else." Cyborg nodded at that

"What will we do now?" The question was directed to the domino-masked leader who finally acknowledged his second in command by raising his head in his direction after it had once again been lowered once he made sure the black-eyed boy was saying the truth about not being hurt in any other way by their current main suspect.

"We're to stay as far away from him as possible until we solve this case, depending on if he's found guilty of the attack to Beast Boy or not we shall decide what to do with this incident." Cyborg pulled a face at that.

"How can we investigate him if we can't go near him?" Robin sighed knowing that question was likely to pop out.

"We'll do it without his knowledge, unless he needs to be interrogated we won't be communicating with him." He answered as if it had been rehearsed "No-one is going to go near him… Where's Raven? She needs to hear this; every contact she has with Roy has to be broken completely."

"She's still sleeping." Cyborg said, he was feeling worried now; he was trusting Roy to be innocent and to be taking good care of Raven but with this, would there be a possibility of him hurting the Titan? Raven seemed well enough, she had reactions when talking about the redhead he hadn't seen since her and Robin were dating and it was refreshing but… "I think we shouldn't wake her and even less considering the news you're about to give her. Just last day you finally allowed her to work on this case on her own."

"Considering the news?" It was the bird's turn to sound unbelieving "These aren't just news it's an order; I don't care what I said yesterday all I care about is her safety even if that means separating her from Roy completely by any means necessary."

"She won't accept that easily." Was the reply given by the mechanic male but he knew Robin was getting to the point where he wouldn't listen to reasons and he wasn't sure if it was such a bad thing at this moment, not with what had happened to Aqualad after an argument. He knew Roy and Raven had recently argued and he just didn't want to imagine what would happen, what would he, and most importantly Robin, do if the ex-titan turned violent on Raven.

"Whether she accepts or not I don't care, she has to follow my orders; she has to understand we do it to keep her away from possible harm." Robin took in a deep breath and let it out before continuing, he was too emotionally drained to argue and he had to keep his voice and face as even as possible turning his back to his teammate for a moment trying not to let himself explode from his overwhelming emotions in front of everyone else again "You know she's the one more at risk at this moment, don't you?"

"… She…" Cyborg stopped himself; his leader was right and the way he sounded it was all really just out of worry for the Azarathian's safety. Yet he was sure Robin's mind was clouded and there was no way to change his mind now and unless Cyborg kept his own emotions in check the argument would start between them; it was obvious his leader was trying too hard in keeping his temper in check even if it was too late for his mind to be clear, if there was still any sign of clearance in it that is "Wait until she comes down from her rest, she needs it. And you better start thinking on a way to make her stay in the Tower, she will try to still go out on her own at any cost."

"I will talk to her the moment she wakes up." Robin stated, void voice and expressionless face looking back at the worried dark-skinned boy who knew his leader had way too much emotion within him to think straight at the moment "This is way too dangerous for her now, she cannot work alone any longer and if I have to be chained to her to make sure of that so be it."

**Un'anima****caduto,****un dubbio****risorto/ Un'anima****caduto,****un dubbio****risorto**

**: Back with Raven:**

There was no sign of Roy or Smirks anywhere; it was the perfect chance to enter and look for the precise source. If she could get it in her hands and take it back to the tower to properly take an inner look to it and try it with the puppets they had found in their Tower then she could get a definite answer: If the puppets reacted in any way that meant the whole thing was due to the spirits and she could clean Roy's name completely. They could also get rid of that object and stop the puppets from moving since the spirit controlling all the other energies in the forest would disappear with said object.

Nodding to herself Raven went right through the metal wall not wanting to move anything knowing fully well Roy, as well as Robin, were too observant to the point even a pen out of place would give away someone had been in that place and the last thing she wanted was for the redhead to be paranoid over someone entering his camp. He was already wary as is knowing whoever had hurt Beast Boy had taken one of his arrows for the attack.

Focusing as hard as she could to find the precise point she felt the energy coming from the dark titan followed her senses to a backpack hanging from a tree to her left far away from the futon, a puppet was hanging next to it as if watching her every moment. At this point she wasn't sure if thinking that was as crazy as it sounded, the freaky thing looked as if mocking her and she just wanted to destroy it at that very moment knowing already she might just be falling in to their trap but as long as nothing happened while she was there with no way of communicating with her fellow titans she would resist the urge. Venturing her hand inside the smaller side-pocket she grasped something she was sure she had felt before, taking her hand out she felt both: Fear and accomplishment upon the sight of the object.

It was Roy's knife; the one he had gotten from Green Arrow and the one that was used to crave all those horrible dolls. So, what if she had been right all along and it had been originally the so called "Carver's knife"? What if that man's ghost was trapped inside the object and now was taking control over the puppets since he wasn't able to move freely being in an object that had no way of transporting itself? Coming back to the place he supposedly died at would surely raise his power to limitless depending on the reason for him to be still in this world and the control over the weaker spirits was easy; she had to take this knife with her and prove her theory before telling all this to her team and, most importantly, Roy.

Roy…

She knew the best for the case would be to take the knife and leave right then but the knife was not hers. If the blade disappeared and her boyfriend noticed he would be devastated; it was the only possession from Green Arrow he had and it was precious to him. She couldn't just take it like that and leave, if Roy found out it had been her they would be done for sure and she was actually enjoying the relationship they had; it just felt nice… It was the right time for her to have a new relationship, it had been too long already since the break-up and it felt right…

Lighting lit up the clouded sky and thunder shook the whole camp waking the female up from her wandering thoughts. She shook her head and decided it was enough for the moment to know the knife was the source of the magic she had been feeling in the forest and it was likely she had the mystery solved already; she could always come later –or the next day more likely- and tell the archer what she found in her books and then pretend to feel the energy in the knife for the first time. He would believe her and then she would propose to try to find a way of freeing the antique object from the spirit so the puppets would stop moving, the case would be solved with him proven innocent and everything would go back to normal. Or as normal as it could be with Roy in the forest and no longer as a Titan, maybe they could look for an apartment for him after this whole ordeal was over with.

Raven put the blade back where it had been before she got there; there was just one thing still missing in this case: Why did the puppets target Beast Boy and why incriminating Roy specifically?

Beast Boy didn't have anything special nor was he in any way bothered by what Roy was doing. He had actually been very supporting of the decision since he learned the redhead was decided to not go back to his old life so it wasn't anything against that or she herself would have been attacked already. And why incriminating the one person who was able to create the containers for the spirits the Carver was taking control over if that actually was to the ghost's advantage; having Roy in prison would mean he would also be taken away to a place where he would have no control over anything what-so-ever. It was all amiss, the one behind this was found –she was almost a hundred percent sure she was right with that-, the way of working was also discovered but the reason behind it was still not clear. It didn't make as much sense as she would have hoped.

Apparently there was no way she could do this alone, she was not as good with deductions as she wanted and she didn't have the necessary info. First off she would need to ask Cyborg about anything else he could find on the legends about the forest and most importantly on the original Carver to see if anything of the past could somehow be related to the present, once they got that information they would need to go to Robin who was the one person who could actually see things in every clue no-one else in the team could, maybe it would be him who could give answer to this question. If the plan worked well enough she knew she would be able to finally get some much needed rest.

A loud bark sounded from somewhere outside the camp followed by some others just as strong and animated, by now she could recognize those barks anywhere and they meant she had to get out of that place as fast as she could or she would be caught by the one person she wanted to avoid at that moment. Making sure the knife and bag were positioned the exact same way as when she got there she went through the wall opposite to the one she had entered through and continued to keep her low height until she was almost at the end of the forest where she finally took the skies moving as fast as she could. The rain had finally morphed into a storm darkening the sky so much it was impossible for her to tell how much time she had spent in the forest. If she was lucky enough she would go back home to find no-one had gone to wake her up believing she was still asleep instead of in the rain outside.

**Un'anima****caduto,****un dubbio****risorto/ Un'anima****caduto,****un dubbio****risorto**

**: Back at ****the****Tower****:**

"Ok so he's still main suspect _but_ that doesn't explain the lack of DNA in the evidence." Cyborg and Robin had finally joined their three friends at the table discussing the case from the evidence now rather than what happened earlier that day "The gloves is a possibility sure but there was nothing that would give away a human had been around the place of the attack when it happened."

"There is no evidence against him but there's also nothing that could save him from the suspicions due to his recent attitude." Robin said trying to think on anything they would be missing "We can't lower our guard but we can't arrest him either, all we can do is trying to think on the next movement the one responsible would take."

"Beast Boy was attacked alone and under a situation no even himself could prevent it from happening." Bumblebee was the one who spoke up this time "It was an attack to kill him, it has to be someone who not only wants to get rid of a local hero but was also aware of Speedy's… or Roy's whereabouts managing to steal one of his arrows to use it against our friend."

"The fact that it's someone wanting to get rid of a local hero makes a huge list pop in my mind but when adding that it has to be someone who knows about Roy's camp the whole list disappears. As far as I know only the ten of us know about it and no villain has attacked recently." Aqualad said continuing the circle of ideas "Unless it's someone who is staying hidden."

"There is also the problem with the security cameras and the strange noises all around our home, the one responsible of the attack has to be someone who has been observing us for them to know when to attack Beast Boy." Starfire declared thoughtfully "If they are still watching us the danger is still present."

"What about Raven's theory?" The Atlantian asked remembering there was also the investigation the purple-haired female was doing on her own "It would change everything."

"Supernatural reasons." Bumblebee mussed out loud with a sigh "That is one thing I know nothing about."

"The puppets appearing everywhere is something very suspicious but if they have no DNA we can't have proof Roy got them near us so the only possibility is them moving on their own." Robin said knowing it sounded crazy but also being away it was possible "Being that the Puppet King is still frozen."

"If there's some kind of ghost controlling the puppets the only way of stopping this would be stopping the ghost itself and I have no idea of how to do that." Cyborg announced quite annoyed at the thought of them facing something they couldn't fight against "We have to wait for Raven's report."

"Which says there is a spirit behind all of this." The voice called everyone's attention to the door of the common room where they found no other than Raven walking towards them. She had made sure to clean her face perfectly and change into the clothes she had been wearing before going to sleep… or attempt to but the other titans didn't need to know that, she had actually been lucky she couldn't believe it "Earlier I found something strange in the forest, I came back to look for information on that in one of my books and I do believe it is a ghost the one responsible of Beast Boy's attack."

"What did you find exactly?" The winged female asked as Raven took a seat next to Cyborg before answering.

"Apparently the forest is full of wandering souls but they are being controlled by a more powerful essence that won't allow them to move freely." She explained "If a spirit is able to do that I bet it can make the wandering souls take control over the puppets and move them as it wishes, I just need to find the source of such power to be sure that my theory is correct."

"It would mean you have to go back to the forest?" The cold way the question was asked in had Raven take a good look at her surroundings: The atmosphere was tense, everyone seemed to be under a lot of pressure and she could swear that bump under Aqualad's skintight shirt looked like neatly folded gausses. Was it possible they had realized she had gone out during the time when she was supposedly napping? No it couldn't be, Robin would have already given her a piece of his mind for betraying his trust; there was something else happening of which she had no idea of.

"The energy comes from that place." She answered. Everyone stayed silent after that which resulted unnerving for her "What's going on?"

"You are not allowed to go to the forest alone anymore, and you will break every contact you have with Roy." Robin said still sounding dead serious, his fist was clenched serving as a way to keep his control over his voice "At least until this case I finally solved."

"What? What are you talking about? You said it was fine I… " Raven asked trying hard not to yell, but stopped herself in mid-complaint after noticing no-one else seemed to be surprised or ready to start complaining on Robin's declaration, this was deeper than just petty excuses like before "What is going on?"

"Today Aqualad went to talk with Roy," Robin started still fighting against his emotions but willing to stay calm in order of making Raven understand "And he got slashed in the shoulder by him."

"What are you talking about?" Raven turned her wide shocked eyes to the Atlantian hoping he would shook his head and say her leader was lying to her but she received the exact opposite gesture "He wouldn't…"

"Why don't I tell you the story from the beginning?" Aqualad proposed getting ready to tell the whole story once again, he had to do it knowing no-one else would be able to do it well enough without something happening. He just hoped Raven was also strong enough to keep her emotions in check after what she was going to hear.

**Un'anima****caduto,****un dubbio****risorto/ Un'anima****caduto,****un dubbio****risorto**

**Blame it all to school, writer's block, health stuff and other things. ****I swear I'm innocent, I really want to finish all my stories and I will but when? I wish I had more time and also that I didn't suffer from that insufferable illness all the writers get known as Writer's block, it's the worst thing ever but I just had to write this. This really is not a long chapter and it has only one really important thing happening here so I found no reason to not do it besides this is the one story I'm the closest to finish and I ain't giving up.**

**I'm awfully sorry for such the long wait, really I meant it and also for make you wait so long for only a single chapter without many happenings. Next will have more movement.**

**The phrase says: **A fallen soul, a risen doubt

**Coming up next chapter:**

"I wouldn't be able to take it, there have been two incidents already and if you keep going alone it's possible you will be next." Robin said trying to explain his reasons to Raven, he had lost her once, he didn't want to lose her again.

/…/…./…/…/

"Maybe you should check on Roy and bring him here." Cyborg proposed looking at the rain outside "The storms are getting worse and if what you say is true then we can't leave him alone either or he might get hurt as well."


End file.
